Attack On Haven
by ChrisDonati
Summary: Sequel to 'Dark'. Holly invites Artemis down to Haven as she serves the last part of her suspension, but what starts as a holiday quickly turns into a desperate fight to save the fairy homeland from a dangerous new enemy- an enemy that will do anything to get what they want. As the pieces fall into place, one thing becomes clear... Not everyone is going to make it out alive.
1. Consequences Of Righteous Activity

**People seemed to want a sequel, so that's exactly what this is. I can tell you one thing, it's even more full on action-wise than 'Dark' was. Dark was perhaps a little rushed in that respect, but hopefully 'Attack on Haven' is much more enjoyable. There are a few new characters thrown into the mix as well, just to shake things up.**

 **ATTACK ON HAVEN**

Artemis hadn't been joking about buying Holly a place in Dubai. She should have known he wasn't one to make jokes, but she seriously hadn't expected him to buy her an apartment. It was only a small, 2 bed type of thing, but it was more than she would ever have been able to afford by herself, even converting fairy currency to a more useable form. Holly was now 3 weeks into her 3 month suspension for killing Eduardo Ortega, a Colombian Cocaine baron and businessman who had kidnapped both herself and her human sidekick, now boyfriend, Artemis Fowl for his prototype signal jammer. Those mitigating circumstances were the only reason she still had a police job to go back to, such was the magnitude of killing a human above ground. Artemis had offered to take the blame, but Holly refused to let him lie for her, especially as the fairies were starting to finally warm to him. Foaly, Haven's resident genius Centaur and tech guy for the Lower Elements Police, had advised Holly to stay on the surface until things calmed down, but her Commander, Trouble Kelp, had almost had a meltdown at the suggestion of her spending any more time with Artemis Fowl. He had an even worse reaction when Holly and Artemis revealed to him that they were officially a couple (Let's just say, some things were broken in the process), and only an overriding vote from the LEP Council and some creative blackmail from Foaly, who had threatened to leak a video of Trouble and a 'lady friend' to the media, which impressed Artemis no end, stopped him from doing anything further. It impressed him even more when Foaly revealed he didn't actually have the video. Despite that, she had only been granted a 1 month leave to the surface- though that in itself was a record for longest surface visa ever issued. Both Holly and Artemis had spent the first week at Fowl Manor, but with Artemis' parents, Angeline and Artemis Fowl Sr, returning from a holiday to Jamaica, Artemis had told Holly about the place in Dubai. She had been equal parts shocked, and equal parts relieved that she didn't yet have to face everyone back in Haven. So, for the next 2 weeks they had been out in Dubai, but now Holly wanted to go home, back to her house and her fairy friends, even if that did mean having to face up to Trouble. And, of course, she was going to bring Artemis with her. But, aside from Foaly who knew everything, she just wasn't going to tell anybody.

The sun was beating down outside as the day approached 2pm, so it was lucky for Holly that she was inside. Fairies, and elves in particular, have a super sensitivity to temperature. Usually it would be the cold that got to Holly the most, but the blazing 42oC heat outside was enough to make Holly want to stay under the air conditioning forever. No, there were things to pack, and then she would have to venture outside in order to get to E94, the closest place to Holly that could get both her and Artemis to Haven, The People's largest city. Shuttle Ports were placed all around the world, but less so in the Middle East. Not that it bothered Holly too much, Butler would be driving after all.  
"Artemis!" Holly shouted down the hall. "Have you finished packing your suitcase yet?"  
As if to answer her, Artemis appeared in her room, wheeling his almost overfull suitcase.  
"Dear Frond Artemis, how much stuff have you got in there?"  
"As much as I could fit in. I am visiting you for 3 weeks after all."  
Holly pretended to look unimpressed. "You do know I can wash your clothes whilst you're here, right?"  
"Yes" He said, then added "That's the only reason I'm not bringing 2 suitcases."  
"You're unbelievable. Surely you don't just have clothes in that case?"  
"No, there is a little something else in there. But mainly clothes."  
Suddenly, Butler appeared in the doorway. "Are we all ready to go?"  
"I'm ready to rock and roll" Holly said playfully. Butler merely nodded, showing nothing in the form of emotion. He led them out of the apartment and straight into the waiting Mercedes. Artemis and Holly dived into the back, which afforded them the luxury of blacked out windows. That didn't make much of a difference to Artemis, but it was certainly useful for Holly. If they were by any chance going to pass somebody on the road, she'd rather they didn't see her pointy ears through the window.  
"How long until we reach E94?" Artemis asked as they set off.  
"2 hours" Butler replied, wrestling the steering wheel as the car sped up. They were soon cruising at a cool 180mph. "It's mainly straight roads, so we can keep the speed up."  
"And you complain about me driving fast" Artemis commented, looking carefully at the speedometer.  
"That's because you drive fast in the wrong places. I swear I'm never letting you take a corner at 120 ever again."  
Holly gave Artemis a look that told him he should shut up if he didn't want to be explaining to her why he was taking a corner at 120mph, so he said no more about it during the rest of the drive. 1 hour and 53 minutes later, they had arrived at E94.

"Are you sure you'll be OK by yourself" Butler asked, just as Artemis and Holly were about to cross the threshold.  
"Yes Butler, I will be fine. Besides, I have Holly to protect me" Artemis replied. Holly gave him a playful shove when he mentioned her name.  
"I know Artemis, but ever since the OWI incident-"  
"Butler, you don't have to say it again. It's not your fault we were separated. Besides, this is a holiday, there are no more evil schemes that are going to get me in trouble."  
"Still Artemis, look what happened because I wasn't there. I'm not sure I can stand not being able to protect you again."  
"I will be fine"  
"You'd probably scare half of Haven to death anyway" Holly added. Butler didn't respond, he just glared at her.  
"Fine Artemis, I will let you go." He turned to Holly. "Look after him Holly."  
"Don't worry" She replied as they crossed the threshold, "I'll make sure he's safe."

Stepping into E94 was a weird sensation for Artemis; For Holly, she had done this so many times before that it was second nature. She had, however, never been to E94. There was never much of a need for her to travel to the Middle East. Indeed, there wasn't a need for many fairies to travel to that region, to the point where visas were regularly refused and the whole place was automated so that no poor Gnomes or Elves had to sit there with nothing to do all year.  
"Well Artemis" Holly began as they passed through into the docking bay "Are you ready for your first trip to Haven as a willing passenger?"  
"I'm not sure 'ready' is the right word. Willing perhaps, but I don't think I'll ever be ready for the way you pilot those pods."  
Holly let an evil grin come across her face. Oh Artemis, you have no idea.  
"I'll try to go gentle on you. So, we'll have plenty of time down in Haven" Holly said, changing the subject. "Anything in particular you want to do?"  
"Well" Artemis replied, "I think seeing our friend Foaly down at Police Plaza is something to go on the list. I need to see what new technology he has that I can hack."  
"You two really need to stop hacking each other's equipment."  
"My dear Holly, we will never stop hacking each other's equipment."  
Holly laughed to herself. Artemis and Foaly's petty hacking war was one of the many things that made them such good friends. Infact, Foaly was one of the few Artemis dared to actually call a friend. Others included Mulch the maniac criminal dwarf. Notice the term 'criminal' in that description. Holly used to be on the list, but she had now been somewhat upgraded to 'girlfriend'. Funnily enough, there weren't any humans that made the list, though Holly guessed he would include Butler if the guy wasn't his protector.  
"Maybe we could wait a few days? I'd rather not run into Trouble right now."  
"Of course you don't. Fear not Holly, if we do see him, I'll be there to stand up for you."  
"Are you going to get in the pod or what?" Holly asked. They were finally at the platform.  
"I so wish there was another way into Haven" Artemis said, climbing aboard. Holly followed him. Once they were in, she grabbed his hand. He bent down as she went to whisper in his ear.  
"Don't worry Artemis, I'll make sure you enjoy the ride."  
And then she was gone, into the pilot's seat. Whilst she couldn't guarantee Artemis actually would enjoy it, it was certainly going to be a hell of a lot of fun.

 **And there we have the end of the first chapter. I hope you're all enjoying it so far. Don't worry, things will pick up the pace soon.**

 **Chapter 2: 'Brave New World' will be uploaded on 10th August 2016. Until then.**


	2. Brave New World

**I never understood why 'Dark' was so popular. This story, as it turns out, is nowhere near as popular. Which, is fine, of course. It just confuses me even more as to how Dark became that popular compared to everything else I've written, both before and after. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

Holly spent the next few minutes examining the controls, immersing herself in Foaly's new creation. She pushed everything else out of her mind, including Artemis, though he was putting up a fight, even in her subconscious. No, now it was all her and the machine, a ritual she performed every time she had enough time before the drop. The pod itself was brand new, something Foaly had created specifically for Holly. It had an improved Nuclear Hyperdrive system for added power, something that pleased Holly no end; She hadn't the heart to tell Artemis. He'd just have to find out first hand. Carefully, Holly tested the clutch; It was the triple set system Holly was used to, so it didn't take her long to find her biting point. As soon as she did, she hit the throttle, and they were off.  
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH" Artemis screamed as they quite literally dropped into the blackness, picking up more and more speed. Holly glanced back to see Artemis clinging to his seat, face white as ash and eyes as big as his ego.  
"What's that? You want me to go faster?"  
"No! God no Holly don't do it!"  
Holly wanted to laugh so badly, but she held her tongue, and pushed her foot straight to the floor. The pod picked up even more speed as it shot round the corner. Looking back again, Artemis looked a combination of pure terror and infinite anger. It was a beautiful sight. Holly didn't have many opportunities to get one over her genius boyfriend, so she was damn well going to take this one. Unfortunately, it was over far too quickly. Holly slammed on the brakes as they approached Haven Terminal, and now Artemis was trying to stop himself going straight through the windshield. Holly pulled into the dock, as perfectly as she always is.  
"That's the last time I ever ride one of these pods whilst you're in command" Artemis said as he stumbled out. Holly grabbed his arm and pulled him over the nearest bench, where he laid down. Welcome to Haven, Artemis.

Once he'd recovered from the journey, Holly led him outside. She couldn't help but watch his face, a great smile forming as he stared in awe of the sight before him. It took a lot to make Artemis smile. The Glow-Strips that were Haven's substitute for sunlight were particularly bright, the air was cleaner than anything on the surface, and the entire place looked like it had come out of a 1960's Sci-Fi film, except the technology on display- from MagLev lines that controlled traffic to state of the art climate control- were at least 100 years ahead of Artemis' time. Even for a genius like himself. The other thing that was most noticeable about Haven, was the fact that it was completely empty.  
"There's nobody here" Artemis said, echoing Holly's train of thought.  
"If I had to guess, this would probably be Foaly's doing. Mainly so we don't get mobbed on the way to my house."  
"Mobbed?"  
"Well" Holly began. "The People have become somewhat affectionate towards you. You have saved Haven a couple of times after all. I think we'd probably end up signing autographs for the next 5 hours if the streets were as busy as normal.  
"You overestimate your people" Artemis said. "I'm fairly certain at least 50% of them still want to murder me."  
"You know" Holly said, changing the subject, "We haven't yet decided on how long you're going to be down here."  
"I'm going to assume you won't want me down here when you start working again. That leaves us a maximum of 9 weeks, though I'm sure my parents will start asking questions if I'm down here this long. Besides, you initially indicated 3 weeks, hence 1 suitcase."  
"We'll work it out" Holly said, taking Artemis' hand, leading him on to see the rest of Haven.

It wasn't quite a grand tour- that would come later- but Artemis got to see plenty of Haven whilst they made their way down to Holly's house. Once they passed into the residential district, however, all the new and amazing things melted into normality.  
"All these houses look the same" Artemis commented. He wasn't wrong.  
"We can't all live in a grand Manor Artemis, this is just the most functional design."  
"I appreciate that... But how do you know which one is yours?"  
"House numbers" Holly said, trying her best not to laugh at Artemis' lack of housing knowledge.  
"Of course. House numbers."  
They continued walking and talking as they walked down the long path, until finally, at the end of the road, Holly stopped.  
"I take it that this is your residence?"  
"Yes Artemis" Holly replied, "This is where I live. I know it's not quite Fowl Manor, but I've managed to live here for my entire life, and it's perfectly fine."  
"Holly" Artemis said, placing his hands on her shoulders, "I have no doubt that it will be perfectly adequate."  
With that, Holly unlocked the door and led him inside. To Holly, everything was a normal size, but to Artemis, it all looked like someone had placed the house in the path of a shrink ray. The ceiling was still tall enough for him to stand, however. The walls were an unthreatening white colour, portraits of what Artemis believed were Holly and her parents hung on the wall. There were two doors off to the left of the corridor, which led to the living room and the kitchen, as Holly explained. Then there were two doors on the right, each of which led to a bedroom. Holly opened the first door, revealing another understated room, with matching white walls. The bed was small, but nicely decorated, with green and yellow flower patterns around the perimeter. Hanging on the wall opposite the bed was another framed picture, but this time it wasn't of Holly's family. It was one of Holly and Artemis.  
"I remember this picture" Artemis said, studying it. "This was outside Fowl Manor, after we'd returned from the Spiro incident, before I had my memory wiped. You wanted one last memory before I forgot you forever."  
"It's been up there ever since that moment. All those nights when I wished I could have you back in my life, all the times when there someone had a problem and I thought 'Artemis would know what to do', only to realise you were no longer here, all the times when my life felt so empty because there was a mud-boy shaped hole in my heart, I would look at this picture to remind myself of you..."  
Holly wanted to continue, but the tears welling up in her eyes and the lump in her throat stopped her dead. She knew why Root had wanted to wipe Artemis' mind, he was far too involved with The People, but at that point he was almost a constant in her life. She had seen him turn from a cold, evil boy to the caring, if morally corrupt, teenager stood before her. And she hadn't wanted to let him go. The next thing Holly knew, Artemis had wrapped his arms around her, holding her in his warm embrace.  
"It's alright Holly, I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere" He said softly to her, and the tears really began to flow.


	3. Trouble And Strife

**First of all, sorry it has taken this long to actually upload chapter 3. I'm both trying to write a novel and I have a blog to keep up with, and so this got put on the backburner.  
Chapter 3, as it is, has something of a more self explanatory name that the previous two chapters, but is still filled with mysteries. So enjoy it.**

Once Holly had cried herself out, not only did Artemis need a new shirt but Holly was determined not to let her emotions get the better of her again. So, to make up for it, she decided to give Artemis an even grander tour of her house than she'd planned before. After showing him the living room and the kitchen, she opened the door to his bedroom. It was much the same as Holly's room, except for one big difference.  
"You have a human sized bed."  
"Well of course" Holly replied. "As if I'm going to make you sleep in a bed designed for 3ft tall elves.  
Artemis looked back at the doorway. "How did you get it in here?"  
"In many pieces. Mulch helped me put it together... Well he did until he got hungry and emptied my fridge."  
Artemis nodded his acknowledgement to Mulch's ability to eat quite literally everything put infront of him, then sat on his bed.  
"What do you think?" Holly asked.  
"I think you shouldn't have gone to so much trouble just for me. " Then he added "It's also very comfortable."  
"Why thank you" Holly replied, sitting down next to Artemis. She could already tell what his next question was going to be; She had seen it light up in his eyes.  
"You haven't been down here since we entered a relationship, so when did you build the bed? More importantly, why?"  
"I've been planning on inviting you down here for a while now, even when we were 'just friends'. I never really found the opportunity."  
"'Just friends'? I don't think we've ever been 'Just friends'; You spent most of our early time together as my sworn enemy."  
"Fine then. Frenemies. But we became best friends afterwards."  
"I cannot disagree."  
"Shall we continue with the tour?" Holly asked, pulling Artemis off the bed. She led him to the back of the hallway, where there was a 5th door. When Holly opened it, a whole new set of rooms were revealed.  
"If I have someone visiting, I usually keep this door locked." Holly explained. "They don't need to know about this part of the house."  
"And what exactly does 'this part' contain?" Artemis asked, curious.  
"My gym and my training room is on the left hand side." Holly said, pointing them out. She stopped to pause as her vision wandered to the right hand side. "And then I have my memory room. Little bits and pieces to remind me of my mum: Pictures and letters and little presents we bought on our holidays to Atlantis. I even have her old helmet." She turned to Artemis, forcing herself to look away. She dare not start crying again.  
"From what I've heard, she was a brilliant elf."  
"She was" Holly replied, wrapping herself around Artemis' waist, wanting to feel the close contact. She stifled back another sob. "I miss her so much."

Artemis told Holly that he was fine for them to do nothing for the rest of the day, but she was determined that she would not ruin the day by getting emotional. Twice.  
"So where are we going?" Artemis asked as they stepped out of Holly's house and back onto the street.  
"You wanted to go see Foaly, well he'll almost have finished for the day, so we're gonna go surprise him." Holly replied. She'd changed out of her travelling clothes and put on a dark green dress. Holly wasn't really one for dresses, but if she was going to be walking into Police Plaza as Artemis Fowl's girlfriend, then she was damn well going to make an impression. Artemis, as usual, was wearing a suit. It was a dark, shiny black, with an immaculate white shirt underneath. He was going to both impress and terrify every fairy they ran into.  
"Well then, shall we start walking?" Artemis said, and Holly led him on. It was a 15 minute walk down to Police Plaza, allowing Holly to point out even more of the sights to Artemis along the way.  
"That over there" Holly said, pointing to an abandoned building just infront of them, "Is the old Police Plaza. That's where I started out, as a regular LEP officer, until they moved HQ down the road."  
"Why did they move it?"  
"It was getting old and outdated. It was 500 years old and far too small, so we upgraded."  
"I thought The People liked their recycling. How come the building is still standing?"  
"The Council designated it as a heritage site, so it couldn't be demolished. I think they're currently renovating it so that it can be turned into a museum."  
"Museum? You seem to like them more than we do."  
"One of just a few things" Holly mock counted off her finger. "Only other things I can think of are flying and saving the planet. Oh and Magic."  
She hadn't realised they'd stopped walking, but subconsciously she must have know that she was at Police Plaza, because the giant double doors were standing infront of her and Artemis.  
"We're here" She said, not that she needed to. Artemis knew.  
"You lead, Major Short" Artemis said, opening the door.  
"You say that like I'm not suspended." Holly replied, and led the way inside. Foaly's ops booth was at the far end of the building, which meant they had to walk the entire length of the walkway. Holly and Artemis moved as quickly as they could, but that didn't stop the many stares and jaw drops from everyone they passed- One, because Holly wasn't supposed to be there, but more importantly they were all shocked to see a human walking through their building. Holly and Artemis both mock saluted when they saw Lili Frond, which she returned. Though Holly and Lili could hardly be considered friends, she was one of the few people that had known Artemis was coming down to Haven. It was nice to have someone that knew on the front lines. Holly turned back from saluting Lili, and then froze dead in her tracks.  
"Major Short" Said Trouble Kelp, his facial expression resembling that of a pissed off octopus. Then he saw Artemis. "Oh Frond..." He said, his expression dropping to one of shock. It didn't last.  
"What in Frond's name is he doing here!?" He said, looking at Holly.  
"It's nice to see you too, Trouble" Artemis replied nonchalantly.  
"You have a nerve coming down here, Fowl. Trying to ruin all of our reputations now that you've finished with mine and Holly's? Because of you involving her in your little adventure, I had to suspend my best officer."  
"It think you'll find that Holly willingly made her way to Fowl Manor. You even signed off her visa." Artemis replied, and Trouble had to force himself not to lash out. Instead, he leaned in as close as he possibly could to Artemis.  
"If I had my way, you'd have had your entire memory wiped and been left to fend for yourself in the middle of the desert. You're lucky you've got the Council on your side. But I promise you this- they cannot protect you forever."  
"Stop this Trouble" Holly interrupted. "There's no use blaming the failings of the LEP on Artemis. And there's no point in making threats you can't hope to keep."  
"All of this went downhill because you allowed yourself to be kidnapped by mud boy over there. If anything, you lost your focus ever since he became involved in your life."  
The next thing Trouble knew, Artemis had picked him up by his shoulders, and thrust him against the wall.  
"Listen here, Kelp" Artemis said, his dead, cold eyes looking straight into Trouble's. "You leave Holly out of this, or I will end your career faster than you can open your mouth to scream. Do you understand me?"  
"Break it up you three" Came a voice behind them.  
"D'Arvit" Trouble swore as Artemis put him down. "Wing Commander Vinyaya."  
"I suggest you walk away from this, Commander" Vinyaya said to Trouble. "You're walking a tight line with the Council as it is. Don't make it worse for yourself."  
Trouble muttered something obscene under his breath, and walked back down to his office.  
"Holly, Artemis, it's nice to see you down here" Vinyaya said . Wing Commander Raine Vinyaya was a veteran of the LEP, an elf whose 500 year career was testament to her resolve and tenacity in paving the way for women in Haven's elite police force. A member of the LEP Council, Vinyaya was also the head of the LEP's most secret organisation, Section 8.  
"If you have a minute, I'd like to speak to the both of you."  
"We were on our way to see Foaly, but I'm sure he can wait a few minutes."  
"No, you two go see him first. I can wait" Vinyaya said, leaving Holly and Artemis to continue walking. If they had known what Raine Vinyaya was later going to tell them, they probably would have never gone back.

 **Ah, I love mysterious endings.**

 **And believe me when I tell you, what Wing Commander Vinyaya is going to tell them will shape the entirety of the rest of the story, for better... Or for worse.**


	4. Playing With Fire

**Things are building up nicely. Soon Haven will be turned on its head. But first... Foaly. Because we all need more Foaly in our lives. Also because the back and forth between Artemis and Foaly was so much fun to write.**

"Holly!" Foaly exclaimed as she walked into his ops booth. "I really need to change my key code, don't I?"  
"Yes. Having your IQ as a passcode is not befitting of its value."  
"Oh look! You brought Haven's former most wanted down here with you. Much like your name, you seem to be 2nd at everything these days."  
"It's nice to see you too Foaly." Artemis replied, scanning the room. "I see you have a lot of new equipment in here. I say new, I currently feel like I'm living in the 1950's."  
"Ha! You weren't even around in the 1950's, let alone know anything about it."  
"Enjoy it whilst you can my Centaur friend. How much does the LEP give you in funding? Because you may need to dip into it once I've finished with your systems."  
Foaly made a pleading look at Holly. "I always do wonder what you see in him."  
"Other than my charming personality and incredible mind?" Artemis responded sarcastically.  
"Your incredible mind has nothing on mine" Foaly retorted.  
"And I think Trouble Kelp would dispute your award winning personality." Holly added.  
Foaly looked intrigued. "Oh I do have to hear about this."  
"You should have seen Trouble's face when Artemis pinned him up against the wall. He couldn't have looked more terrified if he tried."  
"In my defence" Artemis said, directed mainly at Foaly, "He had insulted both myself and Holly. I thought I'd give him a gentle reminder not to do that in the future."  
"It's a good thing he already hates you Artemis" Foaly said, and everyone laughed. The back and forth banter carried on for a good half an hour, until they were all out of jokes and insults. As the silence fell, Holly caught Artemis and Foaly giving each other glances.  
"Care to share anything boys?" She asked. Geniuses and their damn tendency not to reveal anything.  
"Actually" Foaly began, and Holly took notice. "Would you mind if Artemis and I talked privately for a couple of minutes?"  
Holly looked to Artemis, and his expression told her that Foaly was being serious. Whatever it was, likely they didn't want to bore her with science. She doubted it would be another of Artemis' schemes, Foaly didn't subscribe to that. Or did he? Holly closed the door behind her, and could see them start to talk. If only she knew what they were saying.

"Are we secure in here?" Artemis asked once Holly had left. "I don't want her to hear about this, not yet."  
"Yes Artemis, we're perfectly secure. Now, before we move onto your new invention, I want to show you one of mine." Foaly reached down behind a desk, and pulled out what looked suspiciously like one of Artemis' suit jackets  
"I do hope this isn't one of your jokes."  
"Would I ever do that to you?" Foaly joked. Artemis' glare told him to just keep talking. "I present to you, the Triple S."  
"You named a suit jacket 'Triple S'?  
"You'll find, mud-boy, that it stands for 'Static Shock Suit'. The material is woven with electrical conducting fibres that can store up to 50,000 volts in electricity, and discharge them in less than 0.05 seconds on contact."  
"So you made a suit shaped taser?"  
Foaly let out an overly dramatic sigh. "You make everything sound so basic. There are other features: The suit is dialled into a database, so it will only shock people who's DNA it doesn't recognise. I know how clumsy you can get."  
"Me?"  
"Well you don't think I made the suit for myself do you? You'll love it, I promise; And the best thing is that you'll forget your even wearing it. Just try not to touch Trouble Kelp, I haven't dialled him into the database yet. Now, let's move our attention to your invention you want me to 'help' you with."  
"Computer" Artemis began. "Being up 'Operation Zeta'."  
"Of course Master Fowl" The computer replied. Foaly just stood there in shock. "Retrieving file now."  
"How... How did you get into my computer system? You even gave it a voice!"  
"I got bored, plus I thought you would appreciate the theatrics."  
Foaly turned his attention to picture that now graced his large monitor. On it was a picture, a central black console with what looked like two paddles connected to it. "So, this is the first prototype for the BrainWave Regeneration Device."  
"I finally cracked the integration formula. If we have the vital life readings from the time of their death, we can create a new host body and integrate those patterns so that they, in essence, come back to life."  
"I'm impressed" Faoly said, and he was. "This could be a big thing for the LEP."  
"Especially as your helmets record pretty much every vital life sign possible. It could cut down on the number of deaths in the LEP considerably."  
"We both know that's not why you invented this though, don't we Artemis? If this works, and you go through with your plan, things might not be the same ever again. You're playing with fire here."  
"I know Foaly, I've given this a lot of thought over the past few months. I'm not going to do anything Holly isn't OK with."  
"That means you have to tell her. Bringing her mother back into the world may seem like a good idea, but you don't know how it could affect her."  
Artemis paused to look out of the window, staring at Holly. "You weren't there Foaly, earlier today. Every time she talks about her, it's like her heart is breaking over and over again. I just want to make her happy."  
"I know." Foaly said, placing a hand on Artemis' shoulder. "I will build the prototype, but I can't guarantee if it'll work. And you, make sure you're sure before we go ahead with this. Now, go out there to your girlfriend before she starts thinking we're staging some kind of coup."

 **Everything is connected. This may have seemed like a filler chapter, but those inventions may be seen somewhere further down the line. Be it in this story... Or another.**


	5. The Day Things Changed Forever

**It's time for things to get... Explosive.**

Holly was still wondering what was going on in the Ops booth when Artemis finally emerged. She knew they had been looking at something, but the way Foaly's monitor was positioned, she had no idea what it was.  
"Hope you weren't having too much fun in there without me?" Holly asked as they started walking back to Vinyaya's office.  
"Me? Wouldn't dream of it."  
"So what were you too talking about that was so secret?"  
"Science." Artemis replied, but there was something in his voice that told Holly he was only telling half the truth. But, for now, she wouldn't push him on it.  
"I hope you're not devising a plot to take over the world."  
"You really think Foaly would willingly be a part of a plot to take over the world?"  
No, of course Holly didn't, but thinking of Foaly as an evil made scientist made her giggle. He'd likely gather round his slaves and then bore them all to death with explanations of his inventions. She kept that thought in her mind as she knocked on Vinyaya's door. Raine motioned them both inside.  
"Is that what you call a few minutes?" Vinyaya quipped, telling them both to sit down. "I'm grateful you're here. I'm lucky I found out you were both going to be down here today, you're exactly who I need for this."  
Artemis and Holly both looked at each other with an expression that said 'Foaly'.  
"I know you are both wondering why I asked you here. Especially as you're currently suspended-" Vinyaya pointed at Holly "-And you're... well you're human and not really supposed to be down here" She directed that at Artemis. "But the truth is we have a situation, and I need the best people, be they elfin or human." Vinyaya picked up a remote from her desk and turned on the monitor. Holly couldn't help but think that it was just that little bit bigger than Foaly's. When the screen turned on, a picture suddenly appeared; A profile, and in the middle of that profile was a picture of a pixie.  
"The Pixie you're looking at is Flower Kevoor, a rather dangerous criminal who has spent the last few weeks terrorising Haven and being a general pain in the ass. Unfortunately now she's turned from being a nuisance to a mass murderer."  
"Forgive me Commander" Holly said, interrupting Vinyaya. "But I've never heard of her before. Surely if she's that dangerous the LEP would know?"  
"Oh the LEP know about Flower Kevoor, but Commander Kelp has been doing his best not to tell you things whilst you're suspended. In fairness, she's only surfaced in Haven recently. That's thanks to another Pixie we know."  
"Opal Koboi" Artemis said without giving Vinyaya a second glance.  
"Give the mud boy a medal. It would seem Flower here was once Opal Koboi's protégé, and since Opal went to prison, in no large part thanks to you two, Flower was slowly continuing with Opal's plans. Unfortunately, she seems to have had some kind of crisis and has now decided she wants the world to herself, and that has made her very dangerous."  
"I have a couple of observations" Artemis said, but carried on before Vinyaya could say anything. "Firstly, 'Flower' and 'Kevoor' do not go well together as names. Secondly, Opal Koboi does not strike me as the type of pixie to has a protégé. How did you find this out?"  
"Flower told us herself, along with her goals to kill Opal and destroy Haven. She seems to like talking, and gloating, a lot, as well as trying to prove to us that she's far cleverer than Opal ever was. We visited Opal too, and she confirmed it, although I have to say she was least pleased that Flower had detracted from the plans she had given her."  
"I take it you want us to help you stop her?" Holly asked. Might aswell get to the point.  
"In a way, yes. You two managed to outsmart Opal, so you're the best shot we have at outsmarting Flower Kevoor too. You don't have to help of course, I'm not going to force you into anything, but myself and Section 8 could really use your help."  
"Just how dangerous is she?" Holly asked, and Vinyaya grimaced.  
"Last week she killed 12 LEP officers and 56 other residents of an apartment block by detonating a bomb placed inside the building. That was the day we elevated her status to mass murderer."

 **6 DAYS AGO**

"Salt!" Came the cry from inside the office of Commander Lance Stem. The LEP Emergency Response team were all gathering in the doorway, so Lieutenant Chriton Salt knew it was something important.  
"Yes Commander" He said, bursting through the door.  
"We have a situation Lieutenant" Stem said flatly. "I've assembled a team, I want you to lead."  
"Yes sir. What is the situation?"  
"We just received a distress call from a 13 story apartment block on the West Side. From what we can gather there's been a scuffle in one of the apartments."  
"That doesn't sound too serious."  
"Yeah well after the distress call, we heard a gunshot. Someone fired a Neutrino in there, so I'm elevating the situation."  
"Understood sir, I'll head there straight away" Salt said, leaving the room. "Striker, Maclan, you're riding with me. The rest of you follow in behind. I want this operation to be straight in, straight out. We neutralise the situation quickly and cleanly. Understood?"  
"Understood Lieutenant." Chorused the 12 man squad. They made their way out of the building in sequence, each of them entering their squad vehicles. Salt jumped upfront with Maclan, who would drive, whilst Striker was in the back, screwing together his Neutrino 8000 rifle. Behind them, several clicks and snaps could be heard as everyone else put together their rifles. Salt wasn't a fan of the rifles, so he always rode with his trusty double-barrelled Neutrino 8-8. It was an older model, but Foaly had made it specifically for him. One of a kind.  
"Maclan, do you have a recording of the distress call for me to listen to?"  
"Yes Lieutenant" Maclan replied, flicking one of the dashboard switches. A voice recording started to play. From what Salt could tell, it was the voice of a young female, most probably a pixie from the accent.  
" **LEP Control, how may I help you?"  
"** _ **Hello? I need your help, please. My friend has gone crazy and has started attacking me."  
**_ **"OK ma'am, can I have your address please?"  
"** _ **Arlington Rise, Apartment 4-113. Please you have to hurry."  
**_ **"Just stay calm, and hold tight. I'm sending officers to your location."  
"** _ **Thank you!"  
**_ The call dropped dead. And in the background, Salt could easily make out the sound of a Neutrino blaster echoing around the room as the woman on the phone finished her call. Salt didn't know what to expect. Suddenly, their vehicle came to a stop, and Salt was back in reality. They were at the apartment.  
"OK, everyone in formation." Salt said as everyone departed their vehicles. "I want two officers on every floor just incase someone tries to make a run for it. The last two in formation will stay on the floor we're passing through- one facing forward, the other covering the rear. That means Kevaris and Rock will stay behind on the ground floor and not follow us in. Is that understood?"  
There were a chorus of 'Yes Sir's as they made their way into the building. Salt was leading, Maclan and Striker flanking him. The first 3 floors they cleared without any incident. For the most part, the place seemed either empty, or all the residents were in their apartments. When they reached the 4th floor, the remaining 4 members, plus Salt, fanned out.  
"113 is in the middle of this set" Maclan said, pointing in the general direction.  
"OK. Maclan, Striker on me. Jensen and Avan cover the rear." Salt said, moving slowly towards the door. He could hear voices in the target room, getting louder as he got closer. At least that meant the people were most likely still alive.  
"Breach!" Salt shouted, and Striker kicked the door in.  
"LEP! Let me see your hands!" The 3 of them shouted, entering the room. But nobody showed them their hands, because there was nobody in the room. The only thing in the room was a large, square container, and, taped to the top of it, was a voice recorder. They were being played a message. Carefully, Salt made his way over to the device. It looked harmless enough, the entire thing was plain black. Gently, he lifted the recorder off the container to turn it off- that was when he saw the sensor, hidden underneath the recorder. The light accompanying it changed from red to green. Salt had seen one of those types of sensors before, on an explosive device. As if to confirm it, a metallic click emanated from beneath him, the sure sign he'd stepped on a pressure pad.  
"D'Arvit" He sighed, and the bomb went off.

 **So now we know our villain. But just how can she be stopped? I suppose that's something we're just going to have to wait and see...**


	6. Interlude

**To everyone that is still here, sorry I haven't uploaded for a while. Been pouring all my effort into my novel and my blog, but at least I'm back for now. I'll try not to disappear too much in the future. This is a direct continuation from Chapter 5.**

"5 minutes after the bomb had gone off, we received a message from Flower Kevoor, claiming responsibility for the attack, along with her usual lines about outsmarting us and luring us to her traps etc etc. We tried tracing her location, but she had the signal scrambled." Vinyaya said, once she'd finished recounting the events to Holly and Artemis. "But the message came with something even more important- her next target."  
"What's the next target?" Holly asked, naturally.  
"At the end of the message she vowed to strike the Haven Geo-Thermal Refinery 1 week from the Arlington Rise attack. That was 6 days ago, which mean whatever she's planning is going down tomorrow."  
"That is if she was sincere about her next planned attack" Artemis suggested.  
"She hasn't lied to us yet. Believe me, sometimes I wish she had."  
"I take it you've been monitoring the Refinery for the past 6 days?" Artemis asked.  
"Yes, naturally we've increased surveillance and security, but there has been no unusual activity for the past 6 days. Regardless, we've now initiated a full evacuation of the Refinery whilst we conduct our operation."  
"Something here doesn't feel right" Artemis said. Holly agreed, there were too many open ends. "We know Kevoor doesn't like to be hands on, but there's nothing suspicious going on in the refinery. Unless she's changing her approach, then we've been approaching this wrong ourselves."  
"You have an idea, don't you?" Holly asked, knowing Artemis was formulating a profile of Flower Kevoor.  
"I believe whatever device is to be used tomorrow was already planted before the attack on the apartment block. We wouldn't think to look back any further than this week if there was a previous attack."  
"Correction" Vinyaya said, " _We_ wouldn't have thought of it, but you would. That's why I want you onboard. Does this mean you think the apartment attack was merely a diversion."  
"It gave us something to focus on. I believe that, whilst you were concerned with the fallout from the explosion, the device inside the Geo-Thermal Plant was being set."  
"That's a lot of people to kill for a diversion" Holly said.  
"That sounds like something Kevoor would do." Vinyaya replied bluntly. "I'm going to call Foaly, ask him for the previous couple of weeks footage from the refinery. Let's see if your theory is correct, Artemis."

Foaly was, of course, more than happy to send over the last 2 weeks worth of footage from all 48 security cameras to Raine, Holly and Artemis, because he wasn't going to have to screen it. He'd been doing enough of it for the past week, and was more than happy to give it to the holy trinity of LEP outsiders- the one who is head of a secret organisation behind the LEP's back, the one who is suspended and her commander practically hates her, and the human who really should have nothing to do with this- the job of watching it instead.  
"Foaly you idiot" Vinyaya said once the Centaur had sent the file over, "There's nothing in the file."  
"There should be. I downloaded it straight from the Refinery's mainframe. One sec."  
They could hear Foaly tapping away at his keyboard in the background. He cleared his throat as he made his return.  
"I'm afraid we have a slight problem."  
"How big of a problem is 'A slight problem?" Vinyaya demanded.  
Foaly sighed. "I'm just going to give it to you straight. The entire mainframe has been deleted. There's nothing there. All of your video is gone."  
"Can you recover any of it?" Artemis asked.  
"No, I can't. It's not just been deleted, it's been purged, irreversibly."  
"Clever, clever girl" Artemis smiled to himself. Holly found it less amusing. "She knows we're onto her, so she's covering her tracks. We'll be going in blind."  
"We're still going in" Vinyaya said, but then amended. " _I'm_ going in. You don't have to join me, it's completely up to you both."  
Holly looked at Artemis. As much as she didn't want to get to get him involved in anything dangerous, she knew just how important it was that Flower Kevoor was stopped. But, she would never forgive herself if he got hurt, or worse, because of a fairy problem. She could see him too, looking at her. The pain on his face told her that he too did not want to involve her for much the same reasoning. But they both knew.  
"We'll do it" They said simultaneously. Vinyaya looked at them, not the least bit weirded out, but still acknowledged their answer.  
"Good. Get some sleep, both of you. We have a long day ahead of ourselves tomorrow."

Holly and Artemis both tried to keep up a light conversation on the way back to her house, but it wasn't easy with what they'd just learned. Nevertheless, they just about managed it until Holly opened her door. Once inside, Artemis sat down on her sofa, and Holly joined him, curling up next to him. The closeness was comforting.  
"You don't have to do this you know" Artemis finally said after 5 minutes of silence. "This doesn't have to be your problem."  
Holly didn't open her eyes, but instead moved even closer to Artemis. "Of course it's my problem. Haven is in danger, and I'm an LEP officer. Suspended or not, Flower Kevoor has to be stopped."  
Artemis wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I should know that you never back down in the line of duty."  
"Now it's my turn." Holly said, opening her eyes and looking straight into Artemis'. "You don't owe the people anything. You don't have to prove anything to us. Stay here whilst I go up to the Refinery."  
"My dear Holly, your concern is touching, but I'm going with you tomorrow. Besides, it wouldn't be us if we weren't side by side, saving both worlds."  
"Well" Holly said, "You're not wrong." She lent in closer to Artemis, and he mimicked her motions, until they both made contact, their lips brushing ever so slightly against each other. It was a touching gesture, but nothing more. Now wasn't the time for that. They both got off the sofa- well, more like Artemis carried Holly off.  
"Is it just me" Holly said, "Or are you incredibly hungry too"  
Artemis smiled. "What time is it?"  
"Just past 7."  
"And to think Vinyaya told us to get some sleep."

Naturally, having not been in haven for the best part of a month, Holly didn't have any food in her fridge, and, whilst there were a few things in her many cupboards, they weren't really enough to have a meal. Not a meal for two anyway. So, they decided to go out for something to eat. Artemis wanted to know where they were going to go, but Holly wanted to keep it a secret. As they walked, everything seemed so much better than it had coming back from Police Plaza. Just for that evening, they were going to pretend that everything was just fine inside Haven.  
"So, this is the place we're going to be eating tonight" Artemis said as they rounded the corner.  
"Artemis Fowl, I would like to present to you, The Avalanche."  
"Some name for a restaurant." Artemis commented as they made their way inside. All of the staff seemed to know Holly, mainly because it was her favourite place to go when she was ordering in food or making it herself. As they made their way to Holly's favourite table, the one in the back corner that shielded them from most of the other fairies in the restaurant, one of the waitresses came over to them.  
"Heya Holly!" She squealed happily. "I see you've brought someone with you today."  
"Yes Shelly, I have. Meet Artemis Fowl II, my boyfriend."  
Shelly extended her hand, and Artemis shook it. "You don't seem too surprised to see a human down here" He said.  
"That's because everybody down here knows about the great Artemis Fowl! " Shelly exclaimed. Artemis raised an eyebrow at Holly.  
"I knew people were aware of me, but this..."  
"Did I or did I not tell you that we'd be signing autographs for hours if Foaly hadn't cleared the streets?"  
"Point taken. Shall we order some food?"  
And order food they did. In the dimly lit atmosphere of the restaurant, it allowed Holly and Artemis to lose themselves in the music and chatter. Even when the food arrived, accompanied by a still overly happy Shelly, they continued as if there was nobody there. It was perfect. If only it could always be that way.

It was dark when they returned to Holly's house for the 3rd time that day. They'd spent near enough 3 hours at the restaurant, because Holly was going to be damned if they weren't going to enjoy themselves before their big day tomorrow. Artemis too seemed to enjoy himself, even if they were interrupted every 15 minutes by somebody asking for- you guessed it- an autograph. Artemis seemed slightly bemused at his popularity, but took it all in good spirits.  
"Home sweet home" Holly said, walking into her living room.  
"Indeed" Artemis replied. "I suppose it is time to get some sleep."  
"Yep" Holly agreed. "Do you need me to show me to your room?"  
"No, I can remember where it was from your grand tour earlier." He reached down and gave Holly a quick kiss. "Goodnight Holly" And then he was gone. Holly waited another few minutes until she retreated to her own room. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day, she just hoped they'd be the ones coming out of it victorious.

 **Like the chapter title indicates, this was a bit of an interlude. But don't worry, things are about to heat up, very soon indeed... Mwahahaha.**


	7. Preparing For War

**To the *seven*** **people that read this, I'm glad I have an audience. Things are certainly beginning to fall into place. If you want a specific point where everything is going to fly off the handle, that would be Chapter 9. For now, enjoy the buildup...**

Holly woke up just as the Haven pseudo sun was rising. She had slept well, but now all of her thoughts were on the mission ahead. She had performed plenty of missions for the LEP, and plenty with Artemis Fowl too, and each one required her complete focus. All of her worries had been pushed to the back of her mind, her training taking centre stage as she dragged herself out of bed and into the kitchen to grab some coffee- Holly never went a morning without coffee, and could barely function without it. Fortunately, Artemis had smuggled some real coffee down in his suitcase, so Holly didn't have to endure the simulated coffee that The People were so accustomed to. But it wasn't just coffee she could smell as she walked into the kitchen, there was something else too. As she walked through the door, she was met with the sight of Artemis Fowl, and a plate full of pancakes!  
"Artemis!" She exclaimed. "How in Frond's name did you make pancakes? I don't have any food."  
Artemis smiled the way her always did when he saw cranky, pre-coffee Holly in the morning, something he had become accustomed to.  
"I couldn't sleep very well, so I went on a midnight shopping trip and bought you some food."  
"How did you find the shop?" Holly asked. Artemis had only been down in Haven for half a day, how did he know where the shops were?  
"I already pretty much know Haven's layout from my previous surveillance. Plus I remembered where it was when we were walking back from the restaurant last night."  
"You're really something else" Holly replied, downing her entire cup of coffee in one swift motion.  
"So are you" Artemis said, watching the cup bounce as Holly put it back on the table. "I've never seen anybody down coffee quite as quickly as you have."  
Holly sat down and started to eat her pancakes. She dare not say it out loud, but Artemis wasn't half bad at making pancakes; She probably had Butler to thank for that, seeing as he had started teaching Artemis many things, not least Self-Defence and combat- and cooking- but she would not satisfy his ego by telling him. Once they had both finished their breakfast, they got washed and dressed. Knowing that she was going to be covering herself in all manner of equipment, Holly dressed in a simple green t-shirt and pair of trousers. Artemis still stubbornly decided he was going to wear a suit, although to Holly's surprise, the suit was light blue in colour, not his usual black or grey. Just as they had finished getting ready, there was a knock on the door. Holly opened it, and was not disappointed.  
"Commander Vinyaya" She said, acknowledging the elf's arrival. "Foaly" Likewise for the Centaur. Then she saw what was behind them.  
"How did you manage to park a helijet infront of my house?"  
"Some careful piloting skills" Vinyaya replied. "And prior clearance from the council."  
"Impressive" Artemis commented. They both put on their Section 8 suits and helmets, which had been tailor made for Artemis considering his size difference. Holly clipped her Neutrino to her belt, and then handed one to Artemis.  
"I'm not using a gun."  
"Artemis..."  
"Holly, I have no idea how to use those things." He said, but Holly wasn't giving in.  
"Take it, just in case." Then, to make her point, she clipped it onto Artemis' belt herself. He just rolled his eyes and accepted it. The next step was to insert Foaly's iris cams, and also to slip on a silver nano-bracelet, which could detect shifts in the atmosphere once inside the Refinery. Once they were fully kitted up, Vinyaya led Holly away to the Helijet, leaving Artemis and Foaly to themselves.  
"The prototype BWRD has been completed, just like you asked last night" Foaly said to Artemis once they were alone. "As far as I can tell, it works, but we won't know for certain without the proper tests."  
"It is always good practice to have a working prototype anyway, you of all creatures should know that."  
"Oh I know it Artemis, I usually have 3" The Centaur joked. "Creating this ahead of schedule does not have anything to do with the threat of Flower Kevoor does it?"  
Artemis looked over at Holly, who was boarding the Helijet. "No, the end goal remains the same for both myself and for you. If my research into Kevoor that I did last night is correct, the BWRD would be useless anyway. If there's one thing she'll do, it's isolate us first. And the device needs all your equipment to be working fully."  
"Do not doubt me mud boy."  
"I'm not doubting you at all Foaly... I'm just suggesting you may need to move into the 21st Century." Artemis pulled out a small silver box from his pocket and handed it to Foaly. "Made you one of these last night. It's called the 'Signal Bouncer'. If Kevoor sends you a communication at all, you can use this to unscramble it. Think of it as a code-breaker. Then we can track her location."  
"Did you spend any of last night actually sleeping?"  
"No" Artemis said, turning towards the Helijet. "I spent most of it looking for a shop that sold pancakes."

Holly was watching Artemis as he talked to Foaly. Half way through, he had turned his head to face her, and she couldn't for the life of her make out his facial expression. It was a weird combination of guilt and determination. Then he handed something to Foaly, and she knew that, when this was all over, she had to confront him about whatever was going on between the two of them that she had no idea about. No, screw it, she was going to ask now.  
"So what were you chatting to Foaly about back there?" She asked as he slid in next to her.  
"Just going over a few details. I thought it would be nice to give him a little something to help with the mission"  
"The silver box?" Holly asked. Artemis nodded sincerely. At least that part was cleared up, there was still something off about it though.  
"What is the box's function?" Vinyaya asked, intrigued. She was sitting opposite both Holly and Artemis.  
"It's a signal unscrambler. Yesterday you said that Kevoor masked her video message by scrambling the signal, so I put together a device last night that can find the root of any signal and work using it as the core, eliminating any false signal pickups and tracing it straight back to the source."  
"Clever, and useful" The Commander commented. "I expected no less."  
The Helijet began to take off. Holly recognised the pilot as Ramon Stone, one of the LEP's best pilots. If anyone could get them to the refinery in record time, it was Stone. Still, if they were racing in pods, Holly would have beaten him easily.  
"How long will it take us to reach the refinery?" Artemis asked, having to raise his voice over the noise of the jets.  
"About 15 minutes" Vinyaya replied. "So, Master Fowl, seeing as I brought you along for the technical side of this operation, what should we expect once we reach the refinery?"  
Artemis smiled, obviously rather happy that he could be technical about something and not have anybody complain.  
"The refinery is, fortunately for us, rather uncomplicated. It is, however, quite big. Infact it totals 35 rooms, ranging from control pods to cooling stations to the toilets. We cannot be sure what has been planted there or where it is, so we will have to check everywhere, but every room is linked by one corridor. This means we can go down the corridor and check off each room systematically. The corridor is a spiral, and ends with the innermost two rooms: Haven Refinery Command and Control Centre, where every part of the refinery is monitored and every central command is issued, and the Energy storage unit. If I were asked where the device would be located, it would be in either of these two rooms."  
"Why those two rooms?" Holly asked.  
"The Command and Control room is the biggest single place inside the refinery. There are plenty of desks and computers and places to hide something without it being found. The Energy storage unit explains itself. This is where all of the energy harvested and refined in that building gets stored. If someone were to, say, set off a bomb in there, the fallout would be far more catastrophic than if it were placed anywhere else in the Refinery."  
"You sure we're not going to find it in the Janitor's closet?" Holly joked, poking Artemis in the ribs. Vinyaya, not understanding the reference, stared at them with utter confusion.  
"I am. Unlike Dubai, where our things were being hidden, I'm almost certain Flower Kevoor wants us to find this, so that she can make a scene."  
There was a sudden squeak as the intercom burst into life. "Buckle up people, we're approaching the refinery."  
"Already?" Holly asked.  
"I'm not the LEP's best Helijet pilot for nothing" Stone replied, setting the craft down. Now their mission really began.

 **Artemis Fowl and pancakes, the perfect duo. In seriousness, I would enjoy this chapter and the ones before it if I were you, because at some point within the next 3 chapters, I guarantee you that somebody is going to die...**

 **And you have no idea who it's going to be. *Insert manic evil laughter here***


	8. Shadows

**It's 1am here, but given that most of the people that read my Fanfiction are American, I'm hopeful at least some of you might still be awake.**

The refinery had been cleared of all personnel due to the threat on it by Flower Kevoor, so Holly, Artemis and Commander Vinyaya were the only 3 people there. When Artemis had said that the refinery was big, he hadn't been exaggerating; The refinery was big for human standards, let alone for someone like Holly, who was all of 3ft nothing. But, as the refinery powered Haven in its entirety- bar the backup power grid at the LEP- it had to be big. Vinyaya keyed in the code for the giant solid Aluminium doors as Holly and Artemis checked over their systems one last time. With a hydraulic hiss, they parted, and the 3 made their way inside.  
"Eerie" Holly commented as Vinyaya turned the lights on. Artemis shook his head.  
"Not eerie, creepy. There is a difference."  
Holly looked at him impatiently. "I did not take a ride into these mountains to get an English lesson from a mud-boy! I barely even talk the language."  
Artemis laughed quietly to himself. "Yes, you're lucky I decided to learn Gnommish when I kidnapped you. I knew The People had the gift of tongues but I thought it would be nice to come prepared." Vinyaya stared at him, but he continued. "And it's still the same lesson regardless of which language it is in."  
"Enough of the back and forth" Vinyaya almost yelled, but steadied herself. "Shall we actually get on with finding whatever threat Flower Kevoor has planted here?"  
Holly wanted to say yes, but her voice was lost in the incredible slam as the doors crashed shut behind them. Artemis might be right, definitely creepy.  
"They've locked themselves" Vinyaya said, trying to open them, but with little success.  
"It seems the games have begun" Artemis said. To Holly, he didn't even look that disappointed. "The doors must have been on a remote linked to a sensor. She knows that we're here."  
"I wonder what other surprises she had in store for us?" Holly wondered, subconsciously touching Artemis as they made their way down the corridor, and into whatever may lay ahead.

"This is useless" Holly said as they cleared yet another room. This one was a guard station, and the only thing dangerous in that room was some gone off food. The other rooms that they had searched had yielded even less. The entire place was a ghost town.  
"This is not useless" Artemis replied. He seemed to be revelling in the things he had found. Holly had not. Vinyaya had kept a military like calm during the entire thing.  
"We have just 2 rooms left, and we haven't found anything yet. What if there isn't anything here and we've been led on a chase?"  
"What if we missed it?" Vinyaya chipped in.  
"May I remind you that these two rooms are the two that I suggested would be the most likely to be where our mystery device is located."  
"I hope they are" Holly said.  
Artemis turned to Vinyaya. "Could you not have performed some kind of sweep before we got here?"  
"We did" Vinyaya said. "I thought you of all people would know that. But the sweep came up empty."  
"Empty for everything?" Holly said, surprised. "But what about the door mechanism that's locked us in?" Now she understood.  
"So, 2 more doors. One leads to the Energy storage unit, the other to the Command and Control centre" Commander Vinyaya continued, Holly's question not really needing an answer. "Which do we go into first?"  
"Seeing as the Energy storage room would constitute a larger and more destructive initial blast, we should go into the Energy storage room first" Holly offered.  
"You're assuming what we're looking for is a bomb" Artemis said coolly.  
"You think it isn't a bomb?" Vinyaya asked. Artemis took a good few seconds to think of his answer.  
"I don't know. It could be, but equally it might not." Holly looked at him as he said it. It was killing him to be so unsure. "But Holly makes a good point. The Energy store shall be the first room."

Vinyaya led them into the storage room slowly, stopping to check every corner. Both Raine and Holly had their guns out, but Artemis refused to even touch his. For someone who was used to being an evil genius, he really had a dislike of guns. Whilst Holly had spent most of her time a combination of on edge and bored as they went through each room, this one was different. The entire place had navy blue walls, but splitting the walls were tubes that glowed a fluorescent green, lighting up the place in an eerie glow- For once, Artemis hadn't chastised her for using that word. Red lights flashed as blue and purple liquids rushed to meet each other; As soon as they made contact, the entire thing became green. Holly had never seen the Energon process in person before, but it was beautifully haunting.  
"Hang on" Artemis said. "Did you just call it 'Energon'?"  
"If you're thinking of _Transformers_ , we had the name first, but a group of Sprites who worked here went on a day trip to the surface and got horrendously drunk. Needless to say they all got fired." Vinyaya commented in Artemis' direction.  
"My sweep is complete" Said Holly afterwards. "Nothing radioactive, nothing explosive, nothing poisonous. Nothing that shouldn't be here."  
"Well at least we know what room it's going to be in" Artemis said, walking out. "And if it's not, they're going to have a fun time cutting us out of this place."

 **So, nobody has died yet, which means somebody's life is going to come to an end within the next two chapters.**

 **Tick... Tick... Tick...**


	9. The Rise Of Flower Kevoor

_**"That's not our game. One of us has to die."  
"**_ **No-one has to die."  
** _ **"Somebody always has to die!"  
**_ **\- Castle 2x17-** _ **Tick, Tick, Tick...**_

The trip to the final room, Command and Control, was short, but Holly knew that whatever they were going to face, it was in there. And, as much as rational thought told her that there was still a chance this was an elaborate hoax by Kevoor, deep down she knew it wasn't. Which was why she really didn't want Artemis going in first. But, he had already set off, so Holly had to walk fast to catch up with him.  
"So, this is where we see what Flower Kevoor has in store for us" He said, then motioned for Holly to help him with the door. She grabbed one side, and hauled it open, whilst Artemis did the other. As soon as they were open, Holly felt a rush of air hit her. Except it wasn't air, it was something she couldn't quite put her finger on, almost like a rush of pure energy. Her radiation monitor suddenly spiked, but as soon as it had, it had died again. Her helmet felt like it had been fried, and as she tested out the systems, she realised something- it had.  
"Clever" Artemis grinded out with an irritated grin. "She knows my playbook, and she's countering every point."  
"We still have to go inside" Vinyaya said from behind them. Holly knew that, but she didn't like how this was going so far. If anything, Artemis' lack of confidence gave her a lack of confidence. Infact, even though Vinyaya had said they still had to go in, he didn't move.  
"What is it?" Holly asked.  
"I'm used to having a plan for everything. Right now, Flower Kevoor seems to have a solution for every part of my plan. She knows how I work and that takes a level of dedication and skill I've never seen before. If we go in, then I might not be able to get us out."  
"That's not your job" Holly said, and walked inside. As soon as her foot touched the floor, a siren started, splitting the air with its harsh noise. Behind her, the blast doors were starting to come down, and fast. Vinyaya just about managed to drag Artemis through before they crushed him.  
"I was talking literally" He said once he'd brushed himself off.  
" _Of course you were_ " said a sudden, sharp voice. Holly jumped to alert, gun out and ready, but she couldn't see anyone. "Artemis Fowl, Holly Short, welcome to Haven's Geo-Thermal plant. It's nice to see you accepted my invitation. Commander Vinyaya, we are already well acquainted, but it's nice to see you again."  
"Kevoor" Vinyaya replied, her voice stone cold.  
"I would like to thank you all for attending this demonstration" Kevoor continued, though she did acknowledge Vinyaya. "And walking straight into my perfectly laid out trap, one not even the great Artemis Fowl could avoid."  
"I see what Vinyaya meant about her liking to boast" Artemis whispered to Holly under his breath, then straightened himself out to show off his full height. Holly realised just how tall he really was, not that she hadn't noticed before. Then Artemis began to clap, slowly and sarcastically.  
"Congratulations" He said mockingly. "This is a nice setup I will admit. The Gamma Ray Pulse was a nice touch, so that you could fry all of our equipment and cut us off. Just like purging all of the Security footage, so that you can be one step ahead all of the time."  
"You are much the same" Kevoor replied, "You always have to be one step ahead too, that's what makes you so good. So, how does it feel to no longer have that advantage?"  
"Who says that I'm not?" Artemis quipped. "I know that there's no bomb, that would have been too easily detectable. You already made your big show at Arlington Rise. This one is more... delicate, more of a personal touch. Tell me I'm wrong."  
Holly was watching Artemis as he spoke. He was slow and methodical, taking his time to get the words out. Then Holly realised exactly what he was doing. Suddenly, one of the monitors in the centre of the room burst into life. Holly had to say, Flower Kevoor looked every bit the evil narcissist her profile had made her out to be. This time it was her turn to slow clap.  
"Congratulations, there's no bomb. Though I suspect you already knew that before you came in here anyway. Which makes me wonder why you came in here at all."  
"I'm wondering why you suddenly decided to show your face" Vinyaya butted in. "Getting ready for your spot on the 6pm news?"  
Kevoor didn't answer, she just laughed. It was a laugh that send shivers straight down Holly's spine.

Whilst Flower was busy laughing at the 3 of them, Holly performed another scan of the room. It was the first time she had done a proper, full scan. The room was unnaturally dark, mainly because they hadn't had time to turn on the lights, but the screen that Kevoor was using to transmit cast enough light for them to see. Because of that, the corners of the room were masked- but, just a glint in the corner of her eye, Holly spotted something. It was a camera. From the looks of it, it wasn't a base model either. Carefully, she nudged Artemis to look in that direction. He smiled when he spotted the camera, and Kevoor made him.  
"Ah, I see you've found my little party piece." She cackled. "I was wondering how long it would take you."  
"Filming us for your own sadistic enjoyment?" Vinyaya asked sarcastically, but Kevoor didn't react. Not initially.  
"Oh no Raine, it is something far more important than that. See, this camera is currently broadcasting live to Police Plaza, and to every electronic display in Haven. You're on camera to the world, I suggest you make the most of it."  
"First mistake Kevoor" Artemis cautioned her. "Because now the entire population of Haven knows your face, your voice, how you act. Now there's nowhere you can hide."  
"I don't need to hide, I am more than powerful enough to look after myself. But you 3 are helpless, and I am going to use this demonstration to send a message to the people of Haven. I have here 2 of the most decorated LEP officers and The People's favourite mud boy, all of whom have saved Haven numerous times between them. Yet here they are, trapped under my imprisonment, and one of them is going to die! Yes, one of them is going to die, and there's nothing they can do about it." She turned her attention back to the 3 of them. "Whether the people believed it or not before, now they will know that you cannot save them this time."  
"Some speech" Vinyaya muttered.  
"Infact!" Kevoor bellowed into the camera. "The great Artemis Fowl is going to be the one who decides which one of them dies. And I already know who he's going to choose, even if he doesn't."  
Holly scanned Artemis, who himself was frantically scanning the environment. She saw him fixate on something in the background, then she too saw what it was. It was the camera Kevoor had installed, but instead of staying in its fixed position, it was swivelling towards them.  
"EVERYBODY DOWN!" Artemis screamed as loud as he could, with a force that surprised even Holly. He quite literally jumped on her, flattening her to the ground, but in the last seconds before she was smothered, Holly just about made out the gun that was strapped to the bottom of the lens. Vinyaya, who didn't have the help of Artemis jumping on her, couldn't react at the same speed. She dropped to the floor, but the dart struck her in the neck just before she hit the deck.

"D'Arvit" Vinyaya cursed as she pulled the dart from her neck. Artemis, confident Holly was OK, rushed over to her. Holly soon followed suit.  
"So there we have it, our lucky winner this week was Wing Commander Raine Vinyaya."  
"Go to hell Kevoor" Vinyaya spat, just before her back arched violently in spasm. Holly had to steady her, and soon she came down out of it, but her eyelids were fluttering and she was beginning to lose consciousness.  
"Don't bother trying to use your magic to save her" Artemis said dryly, holding up the dart. "Cobalt-60. Dirty radiation. One thing that not even magic can cure."  
"Clever girl" Vinyaya managed to get out before she went into a coughing fit. Holly leaned in, trying to provide whatever comfort she could. Artemis stood up, and Holly could see the anger in his eyes.  
"You've crossed a line Kevoor" He said, looking straight into the camera. "You are going to regret what you've done today, I will make sure of it. Everybody knows your face now, and the entirety of Haven has been given a reason to hunt you down and end you. And, I promise you, I will be leading the charge."  
"Oh I'm so scared" Kevoor replied sarcastically.  
"You should be, because right now a few of my friends are coming to find you, and drag you out of there in a body bag."  
In the background, Holly could hear a faint knock at the door. Not their door, but Kevoor's.  
"How!" She screeched. "How did you find out where I am?"  
"One step ahead" He said, and ended the transmission.  
Holly turned her attention back from Artemis to Vinyaya. She looked so pale, the life draining out of her.  
"I like him" She said, smiling at Holly. "We could have done with someone like him before."  
"Hey, hands off. He's mine" Holly joked, trying to keep the mood light. Raine raised one of her hands, and placed it on Holly's cheek.  
"I know Holly, my girl. Make sure you look after him. You have somebody very special there. But more than that, make sure you look after... yourself. You have such an amazing future ahead of you."

Her hand dropped back down, slowly, and then Wing Commander Raine Vinyaya closed her eyes for the last time.

 **And so there we have it, our first victim. But just because one person has died, do not think this is anywhere close to being over...**


	10. Moments In Eternity

**I've finished writing my novel! Completely irrelevant to this I know, but I thought I'd tell you anyway. I think you'll be pleased to know that nobody dies in this chapter. Doesn't mean it won't happen in the future though...**

At first Holly didn't want to believe it. It all felt so surreal that the events were melting into one big continuum. Holly had looked up to Commander Vinyaya ever since she joined the LEP as a training officer. She had been the elf to show her that it was possible to be a successful female inside the Lower Elements Police, and Holly had never forgotten the inspiring words Raine had said to her when she graduated. She was going to remember them forever now, as she remembered Julius Root's famous rants and her mother's eternal wisdom. All the people that she had held close to her that were no longer present in the world.  
"It's not fair" She cried to nobody inparticular, but there was soon a set of footsteps echoing near her.  
"I know it isn't Holly" Artemis said, quietly as he dared. She forced herself to turn her head to look at him, but she wished she hadn't. Artemis was good at hiding his emotions, but right now Holly couldn't think of a better word for the expression on his face than utterly haunted. He was ghostly white, his skin gleaming in a film of sweat. He'd taken off his helmet , so every part of his face seemed magnified compared to the rest of his body. He hadn't known Raine anywhere near as well as Holly had, but he almost seemed to be taking it worse than she was, and that hit her straight in the heart. She couldn't help it, the floodgates opened as she let out a desperate cry. Artemis ran over to her, picking her up and holding her tightly as she sobbed into his suit.  
"Why does this have to happen to us?" She managed to say between breaths. "Why do all the people I care about have to die?"  
"It's not your fault Holly. Don't blame yourself for this, there's nothing you could have done."  
She stopped herself. There it was, in Artemis' voice. He blamed himself for this.  
"Artemis" She said, stopping the tears to look at him with a fierce determination. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this either. The only person that needs to be blamed is Flower Kevoor, and that is why we are going to stop her."  
Artemis looked down to Vinyaya's lifeless body. "I got her killed. I knew it was a setup and yet I still walked her into a trap."  
Holly slapped him. This was not helping things. "Don't do this Arty, not now."  
"I had a plan" He continued. "And then, in a moment, that plan was no longer viable. I failed."  
They were interrupted suddenly as a laser beam burst through the blast door sealing them in. At least someone was trying to get them out.  
"Artemis, Raine is dead, and nothing you or I can do will bring her back. But what we can do is avenge her, by bringing down Flower Kevoor." She kissed him, feeling the tears welling up once again. "We make sure that nobody else in Haven has to suffer because of her."  
Artemis looked at her, and for the first time since Raine Vinyaya's death, he smiled. Not his usual cocky, sarcastic, know it all smile, but one of understanding. OK, maybe there was a bit of his usual smile in there, along with that glint in his eye when he'd had a brainwave.  
"Good" He finally replied. "Because I have another plan. And this time, I'm not going to let her stop it."

It took another 20 minutes for the LEP team to laser their way through the blast door. The door was supposed to stop explosives so it's not surprising that it took a while to burn through. Holly and Artemis had covered Raine over with a sheet they'd found in a storage cupboard; Everyone had seen what happened through Kevoor's transmission, they didn't need to see it in person. Eventually, however, they did manage to break their way through. And the guy leading the charge was none other than Foaly, the Centaur bursting in as agitated as ever. Holly didn't blame him. As soon as the techs and medics had finished their job, Foaly took them outside and back into the same Helijet that had brought them to the Refinery. The journey back into Haven seemed a lot longer than the journey they had taken earlier that day, and it was far quieter too. Foaly let them have their space without making any of his usual wisecracks, and Holly spent the entire journey curled up by Artemis' side.  
"Where are we going?" Holly eventually said, when she realised they weren't going back to her house.  
"Back to Police Plaza." Foaly replied.  
"Please don't let us run into Trouble" Holly asked. She's not sure she could deal with him at the moment.  
"Don't worry, we've managed to make Trouble busy, so he won't be in your way. I'm going to lock us in the ops booth so we'll have total privacy."  
"Good" Holly said, just as she felt them begin to descend. Soon they had touched down and Foaly was rushing them through the station and into his Operations booth, which was just about the most secure room inside Haven. As soon as Foaly had made them comfortable, he began asking questions.  
"Would either of you like something to drink?" OK, so that wasn't exactly the question Holly had expected him to say.  
"Coffee" Holly replied. Artemis just asked for water.  
Foaly came back in 5 minutes with their respective drinks. Then he began asking the real questions.  
"What did she mean Artemis? When she said that you chose who died. It's been bugging me ever since she said it."  
Holly almost thought Artemis may not answer it, but he did. "She knew exactly what I would do given the situation. She knows me too well it would seem. There was one dart- I could either stand there and take it myself, or I could save somebody else by diving on them. And she knew that, if I was going to save someone, it would be Holly."  
"That makes sense" He nodded slowly. "We're dealing with somebody very, very dangerous. This is not going to be easy."  
"But she needs to be stopped. We need to stop her." Holly said. There was a collective agreement in the room that Holly was right. "The only problem is, she hasn't given us a next target."  
"She's annoyed with us" Artemis said. "Everything was going perfectly for her until she realised that Foaly had managed to unscramble her signal masking, so now she isn't giving us the satisfaction of knowing where she'll strike next."  
A sudden thought struck Holly. "What happened to her? When she ended transmission you were knocking down her door."  
"Yes" Foaly said apprehensively. "Artemis' silver box worked just like he said it would, and we traced her broadcast location."  
"I can sense a 'but' coming Foaly" Holly said, and Foaly shifted uncomfortably.  
"We traced her location back to your house." The words hit Holly like a brick. And for someone just 3ft tall, a brick is something quite substantial to be hit with.  
"There was quite the firefight" The Centaur continued. "We managed to injure her but, after killing 3 LEP SWAT team members, she managed to escape. We followed her as much as we could but we lost her in a set of tunnels we think she had already constructed."  
"I take it that I can't go home then?"  
"In a word... No, you can't."  
"That's 3 words" Artemis muttered and Holly laughed for the first time since she'd been there.  
"OK mud boy" Foaly said, "You've made your point. But Holly is right, we still need to stop Kevoor."  
"We do"  
"And I'm betting that you have a plan to do exactly that."  
"Of course. She seems to know a lot about me and the way I do things, mainly from her endless research. I had just one night to try and tap into her mind, which is difficult enough. But now I've seen how she works firsthand. But that still isn't much experience. The only way to defeat her is to know her well enough to be able to predict her, like she did with me. And there's only one person who knows her better than she knows herself."  
"You can't be serious" Holly said, feeling her head begin to spin.  
"I am. We're going to visit the one person who taught her everything she knows- Opal Koboi."  
The words bounced around Holly's head until she couldn't take it anymore. She felt her knees go weak and, before she could register it, she was already on the floor.

 **I told you Opal Koboi was making an appearance (Well, if you read the preview attached to 'Dark'). Soon we will meet the evil genius herself. What a wild ride this is.**


	11. Plan For Action

**It's 1am and I should really be in bed, but here, have the next chapter anyway!**

"You put something in her coffee, didn't you?" Artemis asked.  
"Yes, I needed to speak with you alone but I don't want her out there with everyone else."  
"How noble" Artemis said without the slightest hint that he was being sarcastic. Foaly know he was though, they'd spent enough time trading insults for him to pick up on it.  
"Now I know why you wanted me to create your prototype for the BWRD." Foaly said, tossing the device to Artemis. He caught it with the grace of an angry volcano- basically, he didn't catch it at all, and he fell over trying. He picked himself up but Foaly couldn't stop laughing.  
"Laugh all you want Centaur. Don't think I don't have evidence of you in uncompromising positions." That shut him up.  
"OK Artemis, but seriously, you were going to use this, weren't you? You told me that it had nothing to do with the threat of Flower Kevoor, but I knew. You even accurately predicted the outcome of your search."  
"I had a feeling Kevoor was going to try something deadly to make a point. It was a 50/50 situation; I only know her so well that I knew it was going to be one of two things. Either a bomb, or a demonstration. As soon as that Gamma Ray Pulse fried our systems, I knew which one it was going to be, but it was already too late. I didn't tell you because I couldn't be certain which one it would be, and I did not want you to make any decisions that we might end up having to regret."  
"You're serious about going to visit Opal, aren't you?" Foaly said, changing track. "What makes you think she'll even talk to you and Holly, especially considering you two were pretty much the reason she's in maximum security prison in the first place."  
"So many questions" Artemis stated coolly. "But I will answer them anyway because they are important to the plan. I'm banking that Opal dislikes Flower Kevoor more than she does me and Holly. Yes, we stopped her plan, but she can always create new ones as no doubt she is doing."  
"From a maximum security prison she's never getting out from" Foaly reminded him.  
"That's not going to stop her plotting. Kevoor, however, is trying to take over the world herself, and that is something Opal cannot have. It makes her a rival."  
"OK your point is made" Foaly conceded. "What will you do with whatever information Opal gives you, assuming Holly hasn't completely lost it and killed her first?"  
"What were the 2 goals of Flower Kevoor?" Artemis shot back rhetorically. "Kill Opal and Destroy Haven. Those were Commander Vinyaya's exact word to me. Now Opal is still very much alive, and if we go and draw her out by asking her questions, we might draw Flower out too."  
"You're playing with fire Artemis"  
Artemis let his smile grow wide. "Don't I always."

When Holly woke up, it almost reminded her of Dubai, when she'd woken up with no idea where she was or what had happened, except this time, after a few seconds to readjust, she remembered everything perfectly fine.  
"What happened?" She asked to Artemis and Foaly, who were standing over here. She was still in the Ops booth at least.  
"You fainted" Foaly said, matter-of-factly.  
"Yeah I know that, but it seemed to suddenly come up on me. I can't tell why."  
Foaly exchanged a few nervous glances with Artemis, who looked cool as ice.  
"He put something in your coffee" Artemis finally said.  
"I hate you" Foaly replied, but Artemis just looked back at him with an expression that said 'You already hate me'.  
"Foaly!" Holly exclaimed. "Why?!"  
"I needed to talk to Artemis alone" He said sheepishly. "But equally, I didn't want to have to kick you out into the masses."  
"You seem to be doing a lot of talking to Artemis by yourself lately."  
Foaly looked at Artemis. "She's not wrong."  
Artemis, sensing he needed to take over, took over. "Myself and Foaly are working on a project, but the nature of the project is confidential."  
"Confidential?" Holly wanted to make sure she heard right.  
"Yes, confidential. But, once this is all over, I should hopefully be able to reveal all."  
Holly wasn't entirely convinced, but it would do for now. Once this was over, she'd really press for an answer, confidential or not.  
"OK Artemis" She said, "But please don't let Foaly drug my coffee anymore."  
Artemis leaned down so that he was the right height to whisper in Holly's ear. "I wouldn't worry about him, not once he realises what I'm going to put in his next drink."

Foaly spent the next 5 minutes demanding to know what Artemis had said to Holly, growing more and more desperate every time they refused to enlighten him, though Foaly's face when Artemis finally said 'it's confidential' was absolutely priceless. However, soon they had stopped jesting, and Artemis decided to go over the plan to visit Opal with Holly. She was not thrilled, to say the least, but to her credit, she never said no at any point before he had finished.  
"Is this your best plan?" Holly asked, once Artemis had run through the entire idea.  
"It is not my best plan" He replied. "It is my only plan. I see no other way that we can lure Kevoor into the open."  
"What if luring her out isn't the best idea?"  
"Then the only other option is to wait and see what act of devastation she performs next. After I ruined her moment, she's no longer willing to play by the rules she previously set out. We have no way of knowing what her next target will be, or how big an event it will be."  
"Do remember that you're suspended Holly" Foaly added. "I'm technically not supposed to be helping you now that I'm not under Section 8 command, and neither is anybody else."  
"The whole Lower Elements is likely looking out for Kevoor, but I don't think they'll ever be able to find her." Artemis continued. "She's flown under the radar so much beforehand, we didn't even know she existed until after your suspension started. She learnt from Opal, the pixie who hid in plain sight and then faked a coma to get her plan done."  
Holly actually agreed with pretty much everything they had said, her cop sense telling her this was their best chance to stop a dangerous criminal and keep the people of Haven safe. Artemis, as always, was talking sense with his explanation. But there was something about Flower Kevoor that put Holly on edge more than even Opal Koboi. It wasn't just what had happened at the refinery, but the fact that she could have done it from her house, in the middle of a residential area, without anybody either noticing or doing anything about it. Flower Kevoor was almost too good a criminal to be true, but it was true, and that scared Holly. But Artemis and Foaly were right, and she had to be stopped before someone else paid the price.  
"OK I'll do it. When do we begin?"

 **Things may seem quiet for now, but I would think of it as another buildup. And in just a few chapters' time, we're going to be thrust into the deep end once again. You know now what happens when you cross Flower Kevoor...**


	12. The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friend

Despite having the plan sprung on him only a few minutes beforehand, Foaly had plenty of technology to kit Holly and Artemis up with. Unfortunately, most of it wasn't useful in the confines of a maximum security prison. As such, Foaly went with the minimum he could fit in that wouldn't look out of place. As Holly wasn't technically LEP due to her suspension, she was going into the prison as a civilian, and therefore she wasn't allowed to bring in a gun. To get around this, Foaly gave her one of his prototype composite guns, the Xtro-99- designed as such that it is undetectable and completely camouflaged until the user wanted to activate it. There was only one of those, not that it bothered Artemis too greatly. There were other problems too.  
"I can't send you in a LEP suit, which makes it difficult for me to monitor you. I do, however, have another prototype." Foaly opened a draw, shuffled a few spare parts out of the way, and then pulled out two yellow, cone shaped devices.  
"You're replacing my suit and helmet with that thing?" Holly enquired.  
"Yes. You put it in your ear."  
"You haven't tested it yet, have you?" Artemis asked. Foaly shook his head.  
"No, it's a very new design, but the theory is sound. At least, it is for The People; I didn't anticipate having to use it for a mud boy."  
"Why were you making it?" Holly asked. "It's not like the suits weren't doing a good enough job."  
"Except they weren't. I was going to upgrade the suits, but I wanted to test the technology first with these."  
"What technology?"  
"Electro-Magnetic Interference cancellation." Artemis said, saying Foaly's sentence for him. "I have never seen this combination of metals before. It would certainly be revolutionary if it works."  
"I developed it after a recovery team got trapped in a massive EM field. Hopefully the energy resistance created by metal interactions cancel out the EM field and allow the device to continue recording and transmitting vital signals and GPS."  
"OK guys" Holly interrupted, "Far too much science."  
"Fine" Foaly replied. "Just please don't break it, those metals are really difficult to manufacture together. Now, go find Koboi before Artemis manages to hack my systems through telekinesis."  
"You mean that's it?!" Holly exclaimed. An invisible gun and a traffic cone earpiece were not her idea of going in prepared. It barely covered the basics.  
"It's all I can risk sending you in with. If you try and take anything else in then you might blow this opportunity."  
Fine, Holly thought, she'll just have to improvise.

They took a shuttle up to the prison. Holly had considered walking it, but it was just too far for them to make it worthwhile, especially considering Artemis wasn't the fittest mud boy on the surface. That's what he gets for a lack of exercise his whole life. In truth, the shuttle ride wasn't too bad; The shuttle wasn't too crowded and so they got to sit together at the back, away from everyone else. It was a quiet, yet comfortable ride. But, eventually, they had reached the prison. Just like Foaly had told them, they were processed through as civilians. Well, Holly was- Artemis had a bit more trouble getting past security until the head security guard realised who he was and let him straight in. If it hadn't been for his intervention, Holly was almost sure Artemis would have been stunned with a Neutrino and thrown in one of the cells himself.  
"That was the most tiresome 20 minutes of my life" Artemis said once he was finally cleared.  
"You try working here for 120 years of your life" The guard escorting them to Opal, Malloy, replied. "I get treated like crap by the prisoners, treated like a concierge by the visitors and paid less than half the people we put in here. D'Arvit, I wish I had a better job."  
Artemis slapped him across the back of the head. "No need to swear."  
He turned to Holly. "See what I mean."  
"He hates swearing. Just don't do it infront of him next time Malloy, and you'll get off easy."  
"As if you've never sworn before."  
"Oh I have" Holly replied, "I just make sure I'm agile enough to avoid him."  
Malloy lead them down a corridor, to a single room at the end. He led Holly and Artemis inside, staying beside the door himself just incase, as was protocol. The room was plain, the walls coloured the same awful grey that covered the rest of the prison. In the middle of the room was a single sheet of Neutrino proof- Among other things- glass composite. Once again, just incase. Sitting behind the glass was the unmistakable figure of Opal Koboi, looking every bit the evil genius that Holly remembered her from their many adventures. Standing at 1 metre tall- the same height as Holly- but with porcelain white skin and deep brown eyes, coupled with long, carbon black hair, she was almost the polar opposite to Holly, who had short, Auburn hair and nut brown skin. They did, at least, both have pointy ears, so that was something similar. There was no doubting that Opal was beautiful, something she pulled off without even trying, but that beauty was only material. Underneath it all was the devious mind that had not only tried to take over the world, twice, but also killed her former Commander and close friend, Julius Root. She could not be redeemed.  
"Hello Holly, Artemis" She said from her chair, her eyes staring deep into their souls. "I know exactly why you're here."

Holly wasn't at all surprised Opal knew why they were there, Raine had visited her earlier about Kevoor so it wasn't too much of a stretch to see why Holly and Artemis wouldn't question her too. Well, maybe it was a little bit of a stretch that Artemis was down there, but not Holly.  
"You know" Opal said, bringing Holly back to reality, "I've learned two very important things since I've been left to rot in this hell hole. One, never decide that it's a good idea to train somebody to take over from you once you're no longer in the position to take over the world. Turns out they end up hating you."  
"You're talking about Flower Kevoor?" Holly asked, just to make sure.  
"Well I haven't been training up anyone else, so yeah, **Kevoor.** " Opal spat the last word with a ferocious hatred. Seems Opal and Flower hated each other just as much as the other.  
"What's the second point?" This time it was Artemis who asked the question.  
"You and Holly make a really cute couple."  
Holly was pretty sure her jaw dropped to the floor. "How... What... HOW?"  
"Oh come on, I saw the sparks between you the first time we all met each other. Though to be honest I rather wish I hadn't, I might be ruling the world at the moment if you two hadn't stopped me."  
"Impressive" Was the only comment Artemis made. He didn't seem the least bit phased. "But seeing as time is rather precious at the moment, I'd quite like to get down to business. If you know why we're here, then you would have only agreed to talk to us if you had useful information. I would like to hear it."  
"Oh I know why you're here, to stop that bitch who's trying to take my throne."  
"Why do you hate her so much? She seems to be carrying on much the same way you were before you ended up here." Holly asked. She was almost worried Opal might pop a vein the way her face contorted at the question.  
"Flower Kevoor has **not** done anything in my honour since I ended up here! I had it all planned out, and she knew what was to be done, every single word of it. Once she had carried out all of the steps, then I could return to my rightful place as Empress of the world! But no, she decided that she was going to try and destroy the world instead. How am I supposed to be an Empress, if there is no world left for me to rule!" Opal paused her rant for a second to catch her breath, then began laughing softly to herself. "I turned Flower Kevoor into a monster, in the hope that I would have somebody by my side that could think like me, so I didn't have to keep commanding around idiots like the Brill brothers. I made her what she is today- and, instead of creating my ideal partner, it seems I now have a new arch enemy. And like all my enemies, she has to be stopped."  
"How do I know we can trust you to actually help us?" Holly said, still sceptical of Opal. Not that that's entirely surprising.  
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" Opal replied smoothly. "And right now, that makes you my friends. Granted, you have no reason to trust me. But you would not have come to me if you did not believe I was you best chance of stopping Flower. It's a risk you're going to have to take."  
"I'm aware of the risks" Artemis said, taking control. "What is your advice?"  
"Every person, be them human or fairy, has a weakness. The best conceal that weakness to the point that nobody knows what it is, or find a way to make it affect them less. It's still a weakness. It's how you managed to put me in here, after all."  
Holly thought back to when Opal plotted to use a human probe to 'expose' The People to the rest of the world, and she'd only been stopped because Artemis used her absolute love of truffles against her, by stealing them and replacing them with the very bombs Opal intended to use to carry out her plot. She went searching for her beloved truffles, opened the compartment, and boom, the bombs went off inside her own ship. She had escaped of course, but only made it so far before the LEP managed to arrest her.  
"Flower has two main weaknesses, which she's not done a very good job of concealing. Her first weakness is control. She has to have control at all times, especially against somebody like Artemis Fowl, otherwise her plans start to fall apart rather quickly. But her second, and more important weakness, is me."

Opal closed her eyes as she reached the end of the sentence, and all hell broke loose.


	13. Traitors

**This is probably my favourite chapter of the entire story. It certainly contains my favourite exchange of the trilogy, though I don't know if anybody would agree with me. It was just so much fun to write. Anyway;**

The explosion tore the door off its hinges, such was the force of the blast. Malloy, the security guard, was sent flying through the air and into the wall on the far side of the room. The explosion was so loud, nobody heard his final scream as he hit the floor. Once the smoke had cleared, Holly could make 3 people make their way into the room. No, 'people' was the wrong word to use; There was one pixie, flanked by two entities Holly could only describe as robots. As Flower Kevoor entered the room, she revealed her custom modified Glock .45- smaller, for Pixies- aimed for just the briefest of moments, and fired. The bullet went straight through the protective glass in the middle of the room, and nestled itself in Opal Koboi's brain. Holly went for her own gun, but as soon as she pulled it out, one of the robots had its own gun pointed on her. The other robot was hovering beside Artemis, though he wasn't armed.  
"I've been waiting for this moment" Kevoor said, motioning Holly and Artemis over. "Now I have finally rid myself of the shadow holding me back." As Kevoor turned away, Holly saw Artemis discreetly bend down and pick up a small, black disc from beside Opal's feet, and slip it into his sock. She had no idea what it was for, but she really hoped it was part of the plan.

Flower had certainly made an impression on the prison. As she led Holly and Artemis out, the level of destruction was only too visible. Holly had no doubt that most of it was a result of her droids, which followed her around diligently and had an impressive arsenal of weapons. Almost as impressively, none of the prisoners had been freed in the chaos. Despite all of the damage to the lobby, waiting areas and interrogation rooms. The cells had been left just as they were.  
"What would be the point of letting them free?" Kevoor explained as she led them outside. "They serve no purpose to me. I choose my associates more wisely than that."  
Holly wouldn't have put it past Kevoor to just torch the entire prison and be done with it, but it was still standing as they made their way to the waiting helicopter. Holly recognised it instantly.  
"You have got to be kidding me."  
"Hello Short" Said Ramon Stone, leaning against the side of his chopper. "Fancy seeing you here again."  
"You double-crosser! I can't believe you, of all people, would betray the LEP like that."  
"Guess you don't really know me very well then" Stone said, as cool as the liquid Oxygen venting from the side of his Helijet. He was enjoying this. "I've worked the LEP for so long, almost everyone in the organisation was convinced that I was one of them. You, Short, for one, fell for the entire thing. But there was one person who wasn't so convinced."  
"Wing Commander Vinyaya" Artemis said.  
"Too right. I'd worked with her a few times before on odd jobs, comes with her rank, you know? But suddenly she starts requesting me for rides a lot. I didn't think much of it, thought she just felt I was the best pilot there was for the operations, but then she started asking some really awkward questions, about previous missions and flight times. She tried to disguise it as two colleagues chatting about the job, but I knew something was up. So I talked to a contact in IA, and it turns out the Commander was trying to put together a case against me. I guess that was her biggest mistake."  
"Clever" Artemis said. "You used Commander Vinyaya's persistence in using you to satisfy your own ends. At least I now know how Flower got into Holly's house."  
"What!?" Holly exclaimed. She pointed her finger at Stone. "You did that?"  
"Yes" Artemis and Ramon said at the same time.  
"Of course, I already knew what was going to happen at the refinery, and when Raine asked me to be pilot, it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I even managed to convince her to pick you two up outside the house, instead of the LEP like she wanted. The I smuggled Flower there in one of my secret compartments. The person Commander Vinyaya was so desperate to catch was right next to her the entire journey. It was perfect." Stone paused to light a Cigar. "You know" He said, partially to Kevoor, "It was a shame to end the charade. I wanted to kill the mud boy off first. I've seen how you work Artemis, and I know you would've figured it out eventually. But, as it turns out, you get to find out everything before you die anyway, so that elfin bitch might aswell have been first."  
"Don't swear" Holly heard Artemis mutter, and had to be careful not to laugh.  
"You've been at the LEP for a long time though" She said, "You can't have been working for Flower the entire time."  
"Oh of course not. I was actually planted inside the force by a gang boss, who I won't name because he's still alive, who wanted to stay ahead of the game, you know? So I gathered him information. Eventually I started to divest my interests, and became something of a legend on the black market. Kept me going all these years."  
"OK Ramon that's enough of the life story" Kevoor said, indicating that he should start loading the prisoners. "I'm not paying you to talk. Let's get them to The Cage."

Ramon flew them away from the prison, nestled in the pilot's seat with nothing but his controls and his cigar. Artemis and Holly were sat on one side of the helijet, handcuffed to each other, with Kevoor watching them, sitting opposite. Holly was trying to figure out where they were heading, but the further they travelled, the less of an idea she had. They were heading away from everything major in Haven, and the opposite direction to Atlantis. There shouldn't be much in their direction. But soon they had left Haven airspace altogether; Holly was plunged into darkness as they entered a tunnel, before being blasted with a set of neon lights that illuminated the entire structure. She couldn't help but look in awe at the engineering that held the tunnels together, a mass of rock and metal lit up like an elfin Christmas tree, but so beautifully sculpted. Kevoor noticed that too.  
"Opal built these tunnels" She said. "It was where she trained me, away from anyone that could interfere with her. She built 7 in total, all by herself, each one leading to a different place. Each one with a different purpose. Until today, only 3 people had been given the privilege to see these tunnels. You should feel honoured."  
"Maybe if I wasn't being held against my will, I'd be more likely to" Holly said, trying to add as much contempt to her voice as she could.  
"You're right" Kevoor responded. "I guess Opal would kill me if she knew I'd let people in here, so it's a good thing you're both going to die." A sudden laugh stopped Kevoor's speech in its tracks, but she soon regained her composure. "You know, whilst Opal was training me, I only ever saw 6 of the places she'd created. The 7th was off limits to anybody that wasn't Opal. I always wondered what was so special to her that nobody could see it, so the moment she was incarcerated, I went inside and had a look. What I saw changed me forever. Now you get to see the same thing too."  
The Helijet turned out of the tunnel and into a dimly lit area, where Ramon promptly set it down. Flower touched a button on her wrist controller, and the lights snapped on. Holly looked around. For all she could see, they were just in a large expanse carved out of the rock. The floor was rock, the walls were rock, and the ceiling was most certainly rock too. But then she started to follow Artemis' eyeline, and saw what he was looking at. Hidden inside a little dip in the rockface was a silver console. It looked about 6ft tall, but Holly was too far away to make out any of the features. Kevoor noticed that they had spotted it, and excitedly led them out of the Helijet.  
"Can I watch, or do you want me to stay with the jet?" Ramon asked.  
"No you can watch" Flower replied. "Witness history being made. I think over there would be the best place to view everything." Flower pointed to the wall over by the console.  
Ramon smiled as he pulled out another Cigar, and made his way over to where Flower had directed him. But, as soon as he had his back to Kevoor, she pulled the Glock from her belt. The crack of the bullet echoed around the rockface, but Holly could still hear Ramon groan as he crumpled to the floor. He writhed around on the floor in agony for what must have been at least 30 seconds, before finally laying still, the blood pooling on the floor around him from the wound in his neck. Holly shot a horrified look towards Kevoor, who merely shrugged.  
"He was becoming an inconvenience. For this next part, I need us to be alone."

 **Flower Kevoor, in the open. A ruthless, heartless killer. But how will our two intrepid adventurers deal with their situation? Or will they be next?...**


	14. Final Piece Of The Puzzle

**Some news first, I've begun writing the 4th story in the series! I know that's maybe a bit odd to hear as this is the 2nd, but there we go. It's been about 10 months since I finished writing Aquaria Major (The 3rd Story), so it's been fun getting back into it. A lot has changed in my writing style over those months (I think, anyway), but hopefully I can still do it justice. Anyway, to the chapter at hand!**

"Why the human styled gun?" Was Artemis' first question as Kevoor led them away from Stone's lifeless body and towards the silver console.  
"Because it's something you don't expect. Everyone in the Lower Elements uses a Neutrino of Softnose Laser. Your technology may be crude, but the gun makes me feel powerful."  
Holly tried to ignore Kevoor as much she could. There was something unearthly about her voice, something that seemed to get more and more prominent as they reached the console. Holly took a proper at the console. There were just 3 buttons on it, and a large grated window above them. That wasn't all, because the console itself was glowing! Only slightly, but Holly was sure there was a pulsating blue tint to it. Soon enough she didn't have to wonder, because Kevoor had led them right infront of it, and Holly knew she was going to make another speech.  
"Holly Short, Artemis Fowl, I present to you Opal Koboi's greatest secret, The Energy Matrix. Inside of this Matrix is 100% pure, unfiltered, unaltered energy. It has the power to create, and to destroy. With Opal gone, I was finally able to enter the room. I found the Matrix, and I could hear it, calling to me. It wanted me to open it and so I did, and I stared into the Matrix. I saw life, and death, the universe in its creation and its destruction. I saw love, and hope, and happiness, but then I saw despair and hatred and evil. And in that moment, I saw my destiny."  
Kevoor was almost being swallowed by the light, she was getting so close to The Matrix. Artemis leaned over to Holly, who was transfixed on Kevoor, and began whispering in her ear.  
"The Matrix has corrupted Kevoor's sensory centres. I'm not surprised she's gone on her own destructive path after having an overload of pure energy enter her brain."  
"It almost seems as if The Matrix is making her even more crazy the closer she gets to it" Holly replied, "How is that possible?"  
"The Matrix can't hold all of the energy, and the overspill is stimulating Flower even more than normal. The way her body is trying to cope with all of this, I'm not surprised she's delusional. It should have killed her."  
"Silence!" Kevoor screamed at Artemis and Holly. "Once I am finished with the two of you, I will use The Matrix to destroy Haven! But first, I want you to find out your own destinies." Kevoor smiled as she pushed the centre button, and The Matrix began to open...

Holly had spent so long transfixed in Flower and The Matrix, she hadn't seen what Artemis had been doing beside her. But when she felt a tug on her arm, she realised he was working both himself and her out of the handcuffs. With a loud snap, Holly felt herself torn away as Artemis ripped them off her arm. He tossed them towards The Matrix, and with Flower so preoccupied, they were free to strike the side of the console. The Matrix shuddered, bursting a steam vent in Kevoor's face, sending her flying across the room, screeching as the burning water scorched her face. Blue sparks rippled through the air as her magic desperately tried to repair the damage.  
"You are going to pay for this, Fowl!" Flower screamed once she had stood up. She was no longer acting delirious, merely incensed.  
"Oh good" Artemis replied, "She's no longer being controlled by The Matrix and is now acting rationally. At least for her." Kevoor went for her gun, but Artemis was already on his feet and charged her. Just before Flower had a chance to pull the trigger, he kicked her square in the chest, sending her straight into the wall behind her. The gun skittered out of her hand and across the floor. Holly ran over to it, but was knocked off her feet by one of Flower's loyal droids. Neither of the ones at the prison had joined them in the helicopter, so they must have appeared from somewhere else. The space was completely open with nowhere to hide, so Holly took the only option available to her, and ran at the robot head on. It tried to swing at her, but she ducked in behind it and jumped on its back. The robot desperately tried to grab Holly, but couldn't reach. As it waved its gun arm around its head, Holly grabbed it. With all the force she possessed, she twisted it round, and the arm completely snapped off. Suddenly, a second droid appeared. Before she had time to react, it fired towards her, narrowly missing her and burning a hole into the droid she was attached to. Something caught fire inside the droid, severing what connection it had to the real world- spinning on the sphere it used for transport, crashed straight into the near side wall before sailing straight over the perimeter and into the depth below.  
"That deals with the first one" Holly said to herself. "Now I've just got to deal with you too."

Artemis and Flower were exchanging blows, matching each other in both speed and strength. Butler had been training Artemis in self-defence, and it was paying off, not least because Flower had yet to gain an upper hand so he could carry on deflecting her attacks. With all that said, however, for someone the same height as Holly, Flower Kevoor was a powerful fighter, utilising everything around her, not least the rock face and the parked Helijet. Holly didn't know any of this, because she was too busy trying to stave off the second of Kevoor's droids. The distance had been too great for her to charge again, so instead she had backed up, zigzagging so that the droid never had a clear shot. It had tried, but each time the shot had missed its mark. Soon Holly realised she was backing herself into a corner, so she stopped. The droid, programmed to learn and adapt, sensed Holly was trying something, so didn't fire. Instead it charged, mimicking the way she had against the first droid. In one swift motion, Holly jumped up against the rock face, then dived over the robot. Unable to stop the momentum, the droid crashed into the wall. Holly, not wasting a moment, hit the droid in the centre of its wiring cluster. Unfortunately for Holly, the cluster was protected by a completely transparent sheet of Dithanium Polymer, the hardest substance known to Haven. In her agony, Holly reckoned at least 3 fingers were broken; The healing sparks that started playing around her hand confirmed she'd at least done some serious damage, not that the droid cared. It instantly spun around and swung for Holly again. Holly did the only thing she could and dropped to the floor. She felt the metal arm swing straight over her head, and go straight into The Matrix. The result was spectacular- with pure energy running through its wiring, the droid was completely overloaded. It began to shoot violent orange sparks from every socket, then promptly burst into flames. There was a pause as the droid seemed to look down at itself in pure horror, before looking back at Holly with pleading mechanical eyes... Then it exploded, and Holly was thrown into the air along with several kilos of burning metal, the inherent darkness of the space lit up in a spectacular burst of colour. Holly crashed to the floor, hard. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was the blazing remains of the droid's left eye. Despite everything, it still managed to blink.

Artemis had, finally, managed to gain the upper hand, in the sense that he had knocked Kevoor all the way over to the other side of the room. With a break in the sparring, he looked over in Holly's direction, just in time to see the final remaining droid punch The Matrix. He knew exactly what would happen, and sure enough it did. But just before the robot exploded, he saw something in its eyes. Fear. Robots shouldn't feel fear. Then Kevoor kicked him in the chest and the battle resumed.  
"You created sentient robots" Artemis stated. "Why?"  
"Because, instead of the mindless junk you get with a regular robot, these ones are clever. They can adapt and learn, mimic the way someone battles them and gain the upper hand. But the best part is, despite their new found senses, I am still in full control."  
"You allow something to think for itself, and then you inhibit its ability to actually carry out what it believes."  
"Exactly" She replied. As she spoke, Artemis noticed that her eyes had turned a fiery yellow colour, almost glowing. Not only had The Matrix corrupted her thoughts, it was slowly destroying her body too. "I watch them. You can see it in their eyes that they don't want to fight anybody, but they're forced to anyway. It's glorious."  
Kevoor floored Artemis as she finished her words. He went to get up straight away, only to find her standing over him. She had her gun back too.  
"These games have been fun, but I'm afraid that they've over. It was nice knowing you, Artemis Fowl, but now, like everybody else, you have to die."

 **(Insert dramatic gasp here)**


	15. Saviour

**Buenos días! It's past midnight here, so technically I can say good morning haha. This chapter is very short, but it fulfils a purpose. Sometimes all the words in the world won't change the outcome.**

Holly didn't black out for long. When her eyes forced themselves open, she could see that Artemis and Flower were very much still fighting. They were talking too, though she had no idea what they were talking about. Then Flower took Artemis' legs away from him, sending him sprawling to the ground, and everything kicked off. Kevoor had been fighting Artemis in such a way that they had migrated back to where her gun had come to rest. With Arty on the ground, she picked it back up, and held it over him. Holly had seen it so many times she didn't need to be reminded that Flower was about to pull that trigger. Without thinking, she bolted up from the floor, and sprinted as fast as she could towards them. With one final lunge she pushed Artemis out of the way, just as Kevoor pulled the trigger. The bullet impacted her in the centre of her chest, tearing through an artery before ricocheting off her spine and going out of her side. The healing magic started instantly, but subconsciously she already knew that the damage done was far too extensive. Her vision started to swim so she closed her eyes, and when she opened them again Artemis was standing over her; He held her hand, and right then she wanted nothing more than for him to just be there.  
"You're going to be OK Holly" He said to her, calmly and smoothly, his voice putting her at ease.  
"I think this is going to take more than one of your sarcastic comments to heal" She replied, as best she could. Her voice was weak, and getting weaker.  
"It's a good thing that I'm a genius then" He said, smiling thinly. Holly let her gaze drop from him. And then she saw the black disk protruding from his sock. She still wondered what the point of that device was, even in her last seconds.  
"Go save the world" She said, feeling her eyelids start to close. As soon as they did, Holly Short was gone from this world.

 **...**


	16. Illusions

**Surprise! I know I usually leave about 5 days between uploading chapters, but because the last chapter was such a short one (And had that kind of ending), I'd treat you all and give you the next chapter, where everything gets shifted up another level once again...**

Artemis had been trying to think of a way to dodge Kevoor's bullet. He had no doubts that she was willing to shoot him, so he needed an extraction plan. Just as he had figured it out, someone crashed into him, knocking him off his feet. As he started to get up, he could feel something in his sock. Then he remembered Opal's disc. He felt somebody push it as he stood up and looked over. He wished he hadn't. Instantly he forced himself to look away from Holly bleeding out on the floor beside him, knowing that there was nothing he could do for her. He had only glanced, but could see how severe her injuries were. He wanted to scream and shout at Kevoor, but the rational part of his brain, which ruled his body most of the time, told him that it wouldn't achieve anything, so instead he stared at Kevoor with an intense hatred he had not felt for quite some time.  
"You are going to regret what you've just done" He spat, clenching his fists so tightly they turned white.  
"Really?" Flower responded. "Because from where I'm standing, I have all of the cards in play here."  
Artemis unclenched his hands, then raised his right one into the air. "I'm afraid that's where you're wrong" He said, looking straight into Kevoor's bloodshot, yellow eyes. Then he clicked his fingers...

And all of the lights went out.

"What have you done?" Kevoor demanded. Only the dimmest of lights buzzed above her where she stood.  
"I've taken away your illusion of control" Artemis responded sternly. "You're soon going to realise you hold none of the cards at all."  
"Show yourself mud boy!"  
"OK" Artemis said as he stepped out of the shadows. With lightning fast reactions, Kevoor spun around and shot twice in Artemis' direction, but the bullets went straight through him.  
"I would be careful" Said another Artemis, approaching her from the opposite side of the space. "You only have 3 bullets left now." Panicked, Kevoor twisted herself back to face the 2nd Artemis and fired off another 2 shots, but with the same effect.  
"What are you doing to me?" Flower half asked, clutching her oversized- As was usual for pixies- head.  
"I'm not doing anything" A third Artemis said, but as he spoke, his voice changed, becoming higher in pitch. Kevoor turned around slowly this time, more warily, she was recognising the change. "This is all in your head." As she watched, Artemis' body changed, flickering in green holographs as he metamorphised into somebody else.  
"No" Flower whispered in disbelief. "This can't be happening. This is not possible, you're supposed to be dead! I killed you myself!"  
"Well then" The voice replied. "You obviously didn't do a very good job. But you still have one bullet left, why don't you try again?"  
Flower held the gun up, pointing at her target. It shook in her hands, but no matter how she thought about it, she couldn't pull the trigger.  
"How disappointing" Opal replied, walking out from the shadows. "You have failed me."  
"I have not failed you mistress" Flower replied, defiant. "I saw my destiny. I saw what I was supposed to do!"  
"No!" Opal hissed. "You let The Matrix corrupt you. There was a reason I never let you see it, it was because you weren't ready to handle the power. Nobody is, not even me! The Matrix is for our enemies, not ourselves." She shook her head, looking at the floor. "You have failed me, but you can yet prove yourself. Shoot me. Show me you have it in you!"  
Kevoor let instinct take over, and fired her remaining shot straight towards Opal's heart, but as soon as the bullet reached, the lights went out again, and Opal was lost to the darkness. Suddenly, her manic laugh rang out across the space.  
"It's just you and me in here Flower, nobody else. Stop hiding and show your true self. You didn't even question, not once why I wanted you to shoot me."  
"You told me it was to prove to you-"  
"I know what I said! But it should still have gone through your mind that something wasn't right" Opal let out a loud sigh. "All this tells me is that you are not up to the job of being my protégé, partner or successor. I am going to rule the world, and you will have nothing to do with it."  
The small light above Flower switched back on, and she reeled back in horror as she realised Opal was standing right infront of her.  
"I'm willing to give you a sporting chance" Opal said, holding out another gun. She unloaded the clip, and siphoned off the first 7 bullets, then loaded the clip back in. 3 Artemis Fowl's appeared around her, each looking, and acting, entirely the same. "One of these is the real Artemis Fowl. You have one bullet. Shoot the right one and I might just let you fly out of here with your life."  
Kevoor looked over the 3 Artemis'. They all looked the same, but there, the one in the middle. There was an eye twitch not present in the other two. Flower lined up carefully, and fired.

But nothing happened. The bullet went straight though him. She'd chosen the wrong one.

"I'll let you in on a little secret" Opal said, yanking the gun out of Flower's hand and forcing her to the floor. "There was no real Artemis. He's in the corner somewhere enjoying the show. You see Artemis is not exactly a violent man, but you just shot his girlfriend, and I'd wager he's pretty angry right now. For once that gives the two of us some common ground. I hope he enjoys this as much as I will." Flower's eyes grew wide. "There was another thing I lied about." Opal tapped the gun. "This thing has an extended magazine. So I have 4 more bullets. Not only that, but I am very much real." Now Opal pulled out a knife. Carefully, she nicked the blade on her arm, and blood started to drip down onto Flower.  
"No..." Kevoor whimpered in realisation.  
" Now, as nice as it has been to see you again Flower, this is where we say our permanent goodbyes. Any last words or requests?"  
"This is all on you" Flower said, angry but resigned. "You turned me into a monster. You made me into what I am! I have failed, but I have failed because of you."  
"I did not turn you into a monster, Flower" Opal replied. "I merely opened your mind to the possibility." And then Opal put all 4 bullets into Kevoor's chest, without so much as blinking as she did it. And then the lights came back on.

Artemis waltzed over from the corner he had been standing, and watching from, to where Opal was standing. That is, over Flower Kevoor's dead body.  
"Was 4 bullets really necessary?" He asked. Opal merely shrugged, but did turn to face him.  
"You cannibalised my Wave Catcher" He continued, holding up the black disc that had been resting in his sock. "I wondered what you would have in store with this. You did not disappoint."  
"I was hoping to use it straight away, but you seemed resigned to defeating her the old fashioned way. Besides, it is so much better than the one you created" Opal shot back, pleased with her own handiwork.  
"Not better, different. Taking the stored energy from the captured electromagnetic waves and turning it into a hologram show was a remarkable feat, but it was not the intended purpose of the device. So whilst and achievement, it does not make your version any better. On top of that, I must wonder how you came to posses my device in the first place. There has been just one occasion when the Wave Catcher was out of my jurisdiction, and that would lead me to conclude that you were working with Eduardo Ortega in Dubai to steal my device."  
"I asked him to get me your device" Opal conceded. "Of course he had no idea who I was. He just saw the money in it for him. Though I never expected him to kidnap Holly and yourself, my end goal was still achieved. I suppose I should thank you for killing him off- saved me a job at least."  
"Yes" Artemis said. "That seems to be a theme with you. You're killing off anybody connected to your resurgence. What's to say you're not going to attempt to kill me here too, as I was a witness." Artemis looked Opal dead in the eyes, as he so liked to do. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. But now my enemy is dead, what does that make me?"  
"I no longer see you as an enemy, Artemis." Opal said. "I see you as a missed opportunity. Whether you realised it or not, you were beginning to take over the world above ground with your schemes, and I had all the plans to take control of the Lower Elements. We would have been an unstoppable force, but I didn't subscribe to a pixie and a human being able to work together. After today- and after everything else- I think I've changed my stance."  
"I'm not going to help you take over the world" Artemis warned.  
"I know Artemis. I already know we're on different sides of the fence. She's changed you for the better" Opal said, referencing Holly. Artemis froze, like someone had stabbed him through the heart. "You're lucky you have someone like Holly to do that for you before it was too late. I never had that person."  
"I don't believe that you dislike your evil tendencies, Opal" Artemis said. "Not after the way I saw you execute Flower Kevoor."  
"Oh I am more than happy to prove my genius to everyone, whatever the cost; And one day I will rule the world. But that doesn't stop me thinking from time to time how things could have been very different." Opal then stuck her arm out, pointing towards where Holly had made her last stand. "Go and save your soulmate Artemis, because I know you'll have a way. Holly deserves that much" Opal said as he glanced over in that direction. But when Artemis turned his head back, Opal was gone.


	17. Last Chance To Save A Life

**I'll admit, this is not one of the best chapters I've ever written. Honestly I realised that the previous few chapters had backed me into a corner so please forgive the fact the logic used in this chapter is awful and most likely wrong. Anyway...**

Artemis didn't immediately go over to Holly. He was trying to avoid it for as long as possible, but eventually, once he was ready, he made the journey across the room. When he reached Holly's body, he made the decision that he wasn't going to do it there, not with her lying in so much blood. Carefully, as slowly as he dared, he picked Holly off the ground and moved her into the centre of the space, away from everything. His suit was ruined, but that was the least of his worries. All of his focus was on Holly. He'd run the calculations through his head; When Holly had revived him in Dubai, the storm of healing magic had inadvertently replenished his own supply of magic- the magic he wasn't technically supposed to possess- and now he was going to use that to repair Holly's body. It wouldn't be able to bring her back to life, she'd been dead too long for that to work, but he could repair the actual damage done to her body. At least he could in theory.  
"Here goes nothing" He said to himself. "For me anyway. For you Holly, I guess this is everything."  
He finished the sentence as the blue sparks shot out from his fingers, directing themselves to the most necessary parts of Holly's body: The entry and exit wounds, and the severed artery. After being drained for half a minute, they finally disappeared. Artemis collapsed, exhausted, but willed himself to get up despite feeling as if he'd run a marathon. Examining his work, he was left in relief that Holly's body had been suitably repaired. She would have an impressive scar in the middle of her chest, but other than that, her body was structurally sound. That just left the final part, the most risky part that Artemis didn't know would work. He just hoped that Foaly, when he found them, had brought the BWRD. It was time to put it to use.

Foaly took another 20 minutes to arrive, during which Artemis toyed with the idea of experimenting with The Matrix, just to pass the time. In the end, he decided it was better to do that in a controlled environment, rather than risk his own health for the sake of science. He did wonder if Opal would ever come back for it, or if she would just leave it to The Cage forever. One part of him fully expected her to come back for her prized possession, but another saw how she acted with Kevoor, and wondered whether she regretted creating The Matrix in the first place? He was still trying to decide on an answer when The Cage was filled with a sudden whirring sound that only came from LEP Helijets, and sure enough one rounded the corner shortly after. Artemis waved them in, and they came to land next to the other, now abandoned, Helijet. Foaly was the first out, followed by 4 heavily armed officers.  
"Artemis!" Foaly exclaimed, trotting hastily over to him. "What in Frond's name happened here?"  
"We won" Artemis said. That was all Foaly was going to get out of him. Still, seeing the bodies of Ramon Stone and Flower Kevoor lying on the floor must have been slightly disconcerting for the Centaur. And then he realised...  
"HOLLY!" He tried to set off but Artemis stopped him.  
"The prototype." It wasn't a question.  
"In the Helijet. Artemis, what happened to her?"  
"She took a bullet for me. She sacrificed herself to save me."  
Foaly placed his arm on Artemis' shoulder, his eyes heavy, then went back to the jet. When he returned, he had the twin paddled BWRD in his hands.  
"Are you sure this is going to work?"  
"No" Artemis replied honestly. "But this is the only chance we're going to get."  
The two of them set off towards where Artemis had laid Holly down. They set down the equipment and began to get to work, placing both paddles on each side of Holly's head. Artemis pulled out the yellow cone from Holly's ear and placed it into the small attached console. The machine whirred and bleeped, before finally acknowledging that device's readings. In just 30 seconds, they had been downloaded into the mainframe.  
"Start the process" Artemis said, and Foaly flicked all 4 switched to the 'on' position.  
"Are you sure this body is going to hold? Usually we'd create a new one."  
"I repaired it as best I could. It will hold."  
"I can see you repaired it, Artemis. How?"  
Artemis didn't reply, he just shot a few magical sparks from his fingertips in demonstration.  
"That shouldn't be possible" Foaly said, shocked. "That really, really shouldn't be possible."  
"We're passed the point of impossibilities" Artemis replied. The BWRD had started its main processes, so now all they could do is sit and wait. But the longer they waited, the less confident Foaly was becoming.  
"Something should have happened by now." He said impatiently. "It's working, but it isn't working. Something isn't right here."  
"She's lost too much blood" Artemis said, the idea suddenly coming into his head.  
"That would explain it" Foaly said in agreement. "But how do we rectify it?"  
"Like this" Artemis said, ripping off his suit. On the inside of the suit was a clear, plastic tube, amongst other things. He pulled the tube off. "I need something sharp." He said in Foaly's direction.  
"No, Artemis. I know what you're planning. Don't do it."  
"It's the only way Foaly. I'm not going to lose her."  
"I appreciate how much she means to you Artemis, Frond she means a lot to me too! But this is too dangerous to you, and there's no guarantee it would work."  
"Foaly" Artemis said calmly. "Let me go." And with a great nervous sigh, Foaly did exactly that.

Artemis walked over to the LEP Helijet, cool as ice. Neither of the armed guards station beside the jet dared to interfere as Artemis went through the emergency response kits onboard. Eventually, he re-emerged with a rather sharp blade. Foaly had, by now, moved away from Holly's body. He knew what Artemis was going to do, and he really didn't want to become a part of it, not that Artemis cared. He was too focused to stop now. Peering down at the readings of the BWRD, he knew that, if he got this right, it would be enough for the device to work.  
"If this doesn't work Holly, then I'm sorry." Artemis said, "But I'm not going to let you go, not yet." He took the knife, and cut a perfect, albeit small, line across her wrist, and fed in the plastic tube. He then brought the knife up to his own wrist and mimicked the exact same actions, wincing heavily in pain as he fed the tube into his own arm. It was crude, especially for Artemis' high standards, but he was running on very limited resources. At least the blood running along the tube indicated something was going to happen.

Artemis was no medical expert- which may have been surprising, given he was an expert in pretty much everything else- but when Holly suddenly sat bolt upright, gasping for air, he was pretty sure that she was, once again, alive. In his relief, he almost forgot to take out the tube, but hastily he managed to disconnect himself, then tightly wrap a bandage around both himself and Holly's wrists so that he didn't lose any more blood than was necessary and she didn't lose any at all. Holly held up her arm, then stared at Artemis.  
"I'm going to guess there's an explanation for this."

 **2 chapters to go. Tick... Tick... Tick...**


	18. When The Dust Settles

Holly woke up disoriented, and with a pounding headache, but very much alive. Though, as she had laid dying, she had expected Artemis to figure something out, it was still a shock to her that she was awake. When you know you're going to die, she guessed you never do expect to open your eyes again, no matter how much of a genius your boyfriend was. Finally able to see straight, she took in her surroundings. Artemis was knelt infront of her, and Foaly was talking to a couple of heavily armoured LEP retrieval experts. Then she noticed the long, plastic tube sticking out of her arm.  
"I'm going to guess there's an explanation for this" She said. Artemis had an explanation for everything.  
"Yes" He replied, walking over so that he was now right beside her. He removed the two paddles from Holly's head- she hadn't actually realised they were there, but as soon as they had been removed, her headache disappeared. "You lost a fair volume of blood. I was merely helping you make up for it." Holly noticed the large bandage wrapped tightly across Artemis' wrist, which made sense given what he said.  
"You going to magic that cut away any time soon?" Holly quipped, and Artemis let out the weakest of smiles.  
"I'm afraid I used it all on you. Though I can't say I was entirely successful." He looked down towards Holly's chest, and so she did too. In the middle of it was a rather large scar, the same size as the bullet.  
"Well it's certainly a reminder that I'm still alive, all thanks to you."  
"I'm only alive because you took my bullet. So I have to thank you too."  
"Next time" Holly said, "I want an actual vacation with you. Not you having to bring me back to life- for what must be the 3rd time now- fighting off the forces of evil."  
"3 times?!" A voice suddenly echoed their way. Holly hadn't noticed Foaly come over to them. "What do you mean 3 times?"  
"What do you think she meant" Artemis asked. "You heard her clearly enough."  
"But... When? And why didn't I know?"  
"Limbo, Dubai, and now here" Holly counted off. "Though I brought you back to life aswell in Dubai, so that one's void."  
Foaly just looked at the two of them, dumbstruck, then waltzed off back to the Helijet, thoroughly amazed and not a little bit annoyed that they hadn't told him. And then a thought suddenly struck Holly.  
"What happened to Kevoor?"  
"She's over there" Artemis said, pointing over to where the LEP team had covered over her body, ready for transportation back into Haven. "I decided not to bring her back to life."  
"You killed her?" Holly asked, unsure that Artemis would ever actually have it in him to kill somebody, but at the same time, that was the only option, wasn't it?  
"No, I left that to somebody else." He said. Holly didn't ask him to elaborate further. That she would ask at a later time, though she already had an idea. "We should get you out of here and to a hospital." Then he paused. "Do you have Hospitals here?"  
"Yes Artemis, despite the fact we use magic to heal ourselves most of the time, not everyone has that luxury. So we do have hospitals."  
"Good" He said, slowly helping Holly up. "Hospital it is."

After being flown back from The Cage, Holly managed to get through her medical checks in record time. She needed to rest- so no more saving the world for the next couple of weeks- but other than that, her body was in complete working order. Artemis had made Holly recount everything, from the moment Wing Commander Vinyaya had told them about Flower Kevoor, to the showdown in The Cage, just to make sure her memory, and other brain functions, were working correctly. Despite all the assurances Holly gave them that she was fine, the BrainWave Regeneration Device was still an experimental piece of equipment, and Artemis wanted to make sure there hadn't been any unforeseen complications. Foaly too was even more paranoid than usual, but Holly agreed that she would visit him monthly for him to run tests, including blood tests to make sure her body took to the new combination of her and Artemis' blood, and hadn't affected anything like her magical abilities. Holly hadn't realised just how much of Artemis' blood had transfused into her body until he properly explained it to her. She was amazed he was still standing, and so were the elfin doctors that had examined him. At least Holly wouldn't be going to her checkups alone; Much to Artemis' horror, he had to go to them too. The good news was, whilst they were engaged in a showdown with Flower Kevoor, someone in the LEP had the idea to tidy up and fix Holly's house. Holly made the mental note to send some flowers to whoever came up with the idea- before realising the irony of it- but for now she was just enjoying being back in her own home. Artemis and herself had been back for nearly 6 hours now, and it was getting dark, but Holly didn't mind. It was nice just to be able to lay close to him again. And then there was a buzzing on Holly's communicator, and she was forced to pull herself away.  
"Foaly?" She asked as his face flashed up infront of her. "I thought you were finished worrying about me?"  
"I never stop worrying about you" He replied, feigning hurt from Holly's comments. "But that's not why I called. Colonel Scar is holding an impromptu 'Press Conference' and he wants you both to be in attendance."  
Colonel Scar. It must be important if Colonel Julian Scar, a living legend of the LEP and very prominent board member, wanted them to be in attendance of his press conference. That fact he was holding a conference was a big enough event in itself.  
"When is it."  
"20 minutes, Police Plaza. You and Arty best get a move on."  
"Hey" Holly shouted down the phone, "Nobody gets to call him Arty except for me."  
"Touchy" Foaly responded. "Just get down to PP before Scar skins me alive." And then he terminated the signal without actually saying goodbye.  
"So, it looks like we have a date" Artemis said with a smile on his face.  
"Have you ever heard of Julian Scar?" Holly asked. "Scratch that, of course you have. I don't think his conference is the ideal place for a date."  
"Oh don't worry, I already know what the conference is about. You might even enjoy it."  
"What makes you say that?"  
"Well, we did just save Haven from a maniacal pixie after all."

It took them less than the 20 minutes to get up to Police Plaza, so they had time to take in the rather large crowd that was gathering around the entrance. A podium type arrangement had been set up, with a couple of microphones. There was no sign of Colonel Scar just yet, but when he showed up, he was bound to make his presence known. Never before had Holly seen an elf with such a large, intimidating existence. Just as she was ready to take up a space beside the stage to watch the conference, Foaly showed up. Hastily, he rushed Holly and Artemis inside Police Plaza, much to her surprise.  
"Foaly, what are you doing?" She asked. "I was waiting to watch Scar's big speech."  
"Yeah, well I forgot to tell you that Scar's big speech is about the two of you, and you're both going up on stage with him."  
Holly looked at Foaly with dagger eyes. "I could punch you right now."  
"He's going to be commending you, what could go wrong?"  
"You should have told me over the videocast. I thought I was just watching!"  
"Well, now you get to participate" Foaly offered. A big cheer rose from the crowd outside. "Look, it's your turn to go on."

"Ladies and gentlemen, Elves and Pixies, Sprites and Gnomes. These last few days have been tough for us here in Haven. We are all aware of Flower Kevoor and what she did to our great city, causing great damage without care for those that we love. Many people, including the LEP's very own Commander Vinyaya, were lost due to the actions of this terrorist, and it is an event I hope never to see in the Lower Elements ever again. But we are fortunate, because we have the bravest people, above and below ground, looking out for us. Their selflessness, in putting the safety of The People infront of their own- and not for the first time either- is the reason why we are all gathered here tonight. May I present to you all, though doubtless you already know who they are, Major Holly Short and Artemis Fowl II."  
There was an almighty roar from the crowd, which had doubled in size since Holly had got there, as she walked on stage, Artemis rather reluctantly behind her. She walked up to Colonel Scar, who was a full 5 inches taller than she was, and firmly shook his hand. Artemis followed suit, though Scar, despite being one of the most hardened elves in the Lower Elements, looked shocked at just how tall Artemis was. Holly had to try and not laugh infront of the Colonel- 5ft 7 wasn't even tall for a mud boy, but Holly had been around Artemis so much his height no longer weirded her out, as it once had. She guessed it had been a while since Colonel Scar had seen a mud boy in person, he rarely ever ventured to the surface.  
"Holly" He began talking again, but this time to her, not the crowd. "You have never acted with anything but integrity and commitment in the field, even when the world has been against you. Your ability to compromise and adapt is one of the best I have seen in my years as Colonel, and I have no doubt that, one day, you will be in the same position as me."  
Holly didn't know what to say, such was her surprise at his words, so she merely thanked him. He smiled at her, then pulled something out of his pocket.  
"It is with great honour, Holly Short" He roared, "To present you with the Julius Root medal for Extraordinary Acts in the Field. He would have been proud of you."  
"This means a lot" Holly said, trying her best not to tear up. "Thank you, Colonel Scar."  
"Please, Julian. Only insubordinates and Trouble Kelp call me Colonel." He then turned to Artemis. "It is also my pleasure to present to you, Artemis, the Haven Medal, given to surface dwellers who are allies to The People, who have helped to fight our battles. You are the first person ever to receive this medal."  
"Solid Gold" Artemis quipped. "There would have been a time when I would have taken this and you'd never have seen me again."  
"That leads me on nicely" Scar said, "Because I have one more thing for you Artemis. As a thank you from The People, for helping us not once, but several times to keep us safe, I would like to make you an honorary citizen of Haven. You're free to come and go as you wish. You're one of us now."  
"Thank you Colonel" Artemis replied.  
"Please, Julian."  
The crowd behind them were getting louder in their applause, cheering for Haven's two heroes. As that subsided, chants of 'speech' could be heard from the masses.  
"I don't do speeches" Artemis said, and quite literally dropped the mic. If anything, the crowd roared even louder than before.

 **Just the one chapter left, and then this will be all over... It's been one hell of a ride. But hey, there's another story still to come after this, one that is even more convoluted and with just as much action, so I hope you enjoy it. For now, here we are. It's been an honour.**


	19. True Purpose

**So here we are, the final chapter in this whirlwind rollercoaster of a story. I hope that everyone who's read this has enjoyed it, because I had a lot of fun writing it all those months ago. This may not have had the same numbers as Dark did, but I've almost felt like this one has had a much more positive response. I'm really hoping that I can keep the large majority of you for when I start uploading story number 3 soon, because that'd be cool. Anyway, enough of me, enjoy the final chapter from Attack On Haven here...**

If the awards ceremony had been a shock to Holly, then the small party Colonel Scar had laid on for them afterwards was even more of one. It seemed to Holly that Scar's legendary 'Hardball' personality was less true than some people seemed to believe. At least, towards people he liked. Most of the LEP, from all divisions, had turned out, including all of the council members. The was food and drinks, and even a DJ playing atrociously bad music.  
"Are we actually allowed to do this?" Holly asked. "Don't fairies lose all of their magical powers if they drink in the company of a mud man?"  
"Not now Artemis is one of us" Scar replied. "To all intents and purposes, Artemis Fowl is now one of The People."  
"Fear not" Artemis said, "I'm not drinking anyway."  
"Well, I'll leave you both in peace" Scar said. "Have a great night, both of you."  
Once Scar had left to down shots with Commander Rose from Guns and Gangs, Holly led Artemis outside, where it was quiet.  
"Cool breeze" Artemis stated. "How?"  
"Thermal vents and refrigeration units" Holly replied. "Foaly designed them."  
"Of course he did. That reminds me" Artemis said, pulling a small remote from his pocket. He pressed the small button on it, then placed it back in his pocket. Holly was impressed by the number of pockets Artemis had on his suit- they'd changed clothes after returning from The Cage. Artemis, naturally, had decided on a silky black suit, with equally dark trousers and a white shirt. Despite it being dark, he'd even brought a pair of sunglasses with him to the party, which were resting on the top of his head. If he had been talking to someone other than Holly, he most likely would have been wearing them. Holly herself had on a little, light blue dress. It wasn't anything fancy, but Artemis seemed to think it looked nice enough.  
"Artemis... What have you done?"  
"Let's just say that, when Foaly comes back to his office tomorrow, he'll find the temperature has decreased quite dramatically."  
"Define 'dramatically'."  
"How does 260 Kelvin sound to you?"  
"ARTEMIS!" Holly shouted. Fortunately nobody was outside to hear her. "I hope you set up a video feed so we can catch his reaction."  
"Ah, so you do enjoy my little pranks after all?"  
"Maybe a little" Holly teased. "So long as none of them involve me."  
"You have my word" Artemis replied. He leaned back against the railing. "I sense there is a reason why you brought me outside. You want to ask me something."  
"Two somethings, that I've been wondering about. If you didn't kill Flower Kevoor, then who did? We were the only two there with her."  
"That's not true. We weren't the only two there. There was somebody else, hiding in the shadows, where only they knew they could hide. Somebody who we know very well."  
"Opal?! But she was killed. We saw it ourselves. How?"  
"Again, not true. Opal was never killed, because she was never in prison. The fact Flower thought she had killed Opal was one of the factors that allowed us to defeat her. When Opal re-emerged, it was as if she had seen a ghost."  
"So the Opal we talked to was a clone?"  
"Yes, and a very good one. It would seem Opal has refined her cloning technique from the first time she used it. The clone believed it was Opal Koboi, and that allowed the real Opal to plot Flower Kevoor's downfall from a distance, without any interference."  
"You don't sound anywhere near as worried about Opal being on the loose as you should." Holly said, feeling a little apprehensive herself.  
"I am" Artemis replied. "But the fact is she helped us. Without her we would most likely both be dead, and Haven would be in ruins. We owe her this night of freedom."  
Holly nodded her understanding. "Next question. Your little device, the one that... brought me back to life. I know that wasn't your end game for it. So what was?"  
"Partially that was the reason. Foaly agreed to help me develop it on the basis that he can use it within the LEP, for exactly the purpose I used it for. Of course, it could only be used sparingly- the power usage of the BrainWave Regeneration Device is rather more than is sustainable. That, and we don't yet know the side effects of the device."  
"But that was Foaly's reason." Holly pressed, sensing that Artemis was trying to stall her. "What was yours?"  
Artemis sighed. "I knew this day was going to arrive soon." He knelt on the floor, so that he was level with Holly. "In all the time I've been with you, both in the literal and metaphoric sense, there has been one person that has been such a big part of you, yet hasn't been here at all. The one person who you have talked to me about for hours, in sadness and in joy. Possibly the biggest influence your life ever had."  
Holly knew exactly who Artemis was talking about. She had known it, deep down, since she put the pieces together herself. But now Artemis was explaining it to her, she had never been more sure. Artemis knew that Holly knew too. He gave a short pause before expelling his final sentence.  
"What if I could bring her back?"

Different people, or fairies, would have reacted in different way to what Artemis had said. Some might have been angry, accusing him of digging into the past when he should have left it alone. Some would have screamed with joy and disbelief. Some would probably have not believed him at all. Holly cried. Holly cried a lot. She already knew what Artemis was going to say, but when he had actually said it, that was when it became real. That was when the chance of being reunited with her mother after more than 20 years actually became a possibility. Because if Artemis Fowl said it was a possibility, then it was definitely true. In the end, it was just too much for Holly to hold back anymore. Artemis had walked Holly away from the party; Sure they were already outside, but there were still people inside, separated by just one wall. So Artemis had walked, with her clutched to his side, to the nearest park, and sat on a bench. As night had already fallen, the place was deserted.  
"You really think you can do it?" Holly asked eventually.  
"Yes" Artemis replied. He was now wearing his sunglasses, one of his ways to mask any emotions he may actually show. "The technology is still experimental, and needs to be refined. What I used on you was the first prototype, so I genuinely didn't know if it would work. When we do this, the technology will be as safe as it can possibly be."  
"I don't doubt that Arty, I really don't, but she's been dead for more than 2 decades now. At least with me you still had a body."  
"We build a new one" He replied, then stopped himself. "Correction, we've already built one."  
"You've already built one? When?"  
"I've been planning this for a few months now Holly. Of course, in the early stages it was a mere hypothesis, an idea that I believed in. But I decided it was worth pursuing, for you. Of course, I only told Foaly about it a few weeks ago, but Opal Koboi is not the only fairy that knows how to clone a body."  
"And the rest?"  
"All we need for the device to work is the final brainwave pattern signature of the subject. Coral died whilst on duty, so all of the relevant life signals are stored in Foaly's archives. He's even created 3 extra copies, just incase the archive is attacked or gets wiped. Foaly has one, I have one and Butler has one."  
"Butler knows?!"  
Artemis laughed, "No Butler does not know. All he knows is the small disc he has been given is to be guarded with his life. That's usually enough."  
Holly rested her head against Artemis' body. "Thank you Artemis." She said. "Thank you so much."  
"I haven't done it yet" He replied. "There's a long way to go."  
Holly didn't reply. She just lay there in a comfortable silence, until, a few minutes later, she was asleep.

When Holly woke up, she was back in her bed. For a brief second she wondered if it were possible that this entire episode had been a rather vivid dream, and that she would walk into the kitchen and find Artemis making pancakes. Actually, he had bought so much pancake mixture before that she wouldn't be surprised if he was making them again. Wearily, Holly dragged herself out of bed and into the kitchen. Artemis was there at least.  
"What" Holly said sarcastically, "No pancakes this time?"  
"It is midday" Artemis replied. "Plus I didn't know when you were going to wake up."  
"Midday?" Holly said, shocked. "How long was I asleep?"  
"13 hours approximately. Your body needed it too, so don't look so disappointed."  
Holly laughed, "I still feel like I could do with another 10."  
"You will. No strenuous activity today Holly, and I'm being serious."  
"Count on it. I don't feel like I could if I tried. I am rather hungry though."  
"Well, I can always make you pancakes if you really want. It's one of the few things Butler has actually managed to teach me how to cook without anything catching fire."  
"No" Holly replied. "I never got to give you a proper tour. There's a little cafe I want to take you to for lunch."  
"Excellent. I'll grab my suit and we can go straight there."  
Holly rolled her eyes. Artemis and his suits. "Don't take too long choosing one."  
"I'll be out in 2 minutes maximum. You have my word." Artemis replied, and headed for his room. When he entered, he noticed something out of place. Nothing big, but something that caught his eye. One of his suit jackets was hanging up on the door, but he hadn't taken any out that morning. Cautiously, he lifted the jacket off the hook. There was something inside the pocket, a small, folded piece of paper.  
"Would you look at that" Artemis said quietly to himself. "Opal Koboi gave me her phone number."

 **Now doesn't that set things up nicely? And believe me, this is just the start of a gamechanging episode in the world of Artemis Fowl II. Once all is said and done, somebody isn't going to be coming out of it alive, and this nobody is being brought back to life. So strap in, hold tight, because things are about to weird, wonderful and explosive when AF and the gang return in** _ **Aquaria Major,**_ **on the 10th November 2016, with a preview posted tomorrow (6th November), just to give you a little indication of what's to come.**

 **Before I go, shout out to my guy Gespenter. Believe it or not I actually look at my reviews, and he's been consistently there commenting, and I'm grateful for the support of both him and everyone else that has left a review, followed this story, or even just read this story. Knowing people are here and they care is what keeps me uploading, so I'm grateful to everyone. Right, I think that's enough from me. I'll see you tomorrow with the preview, but until then that's it from me.**

 **Thank you for reading.**


	20. Aquaria Major Preview

**OK, I'm a day late. I got rather caught up in NaNoWriMo last night because I had to make up a 900 word deficit. But hey, I'm here now with the preview to** _ **Aquaria Major,**_ **the 3rd story in my little Artemis Fowl series. I really hope you all enjoyed** _ **Attack On Haven**_ **, and now we can look forward to the future! So here we are...**

Holly felt like she hadn't slept for weeks. Not in a bad way, but it was Artemis' last day in Haven and she wanted to make it spectacular- after about 3 months away from his family, it was time he got back. At least, that was one of the reasons why her body felt like it was in limbo between having had 20 unfiltered coffees and pure exhaustion. The only problem was that she'd barely seen Artemis all morning; They were having breakfast at the moment, but in the couple of hours they'd been awake, Artemis had already received 2 phone calls and made another of his own. It wasn't too surprising then when his phone rang for a third time. Holly watched Artemis as he glanced down at the screen to look at the number. At first it looked as if he was going to ignore it, but then his expression changed. He grabbed the phone and ran off into the living room, mouthing 'Sorry' to Holly as he went. She took another bite of her toast and wondered what in Frond's name could be so important at 8 in the morning. She needed to be at work in an hour or so, so Holly got off the table and made her way into her room to change into her LEP uniform. As a part of stopping Flower Kevoor, a manic pixie who was intoxicated on a mixture of pure energy and revenge, her suspension had been lifted by Colonel Scar, and so for the past couple of months she had been back at Police Plaza, doing her duty as a Major in the Lower Elements Police. A lot can change in 2 months, however, and no change was bigger than the death of her commanding officer, Trouble Kelp. Nobody had been fully sure about how he had died until footage was recovered of him being hit in a 'drive by shooting'. Since then, Colonel Scar had taken over his position on a temporary basis until someone could be appointed permanently. Trouble may not have seen eye to eye with Artemis, at all, but he had still been a good commanding officer to her. In the month after his death, she'd spent most of it wishing the two of them had got along better. Artemis to his credit had accompanied her to Kelp's recycling ceremony. She just hoped she never had to do another one, she'd already lost too many friends.

 **Intrigued? Interested? Well there's a lot more to come over the entirety of the story. Some thing to look forward to include:**

 **A giant radioactive meteorite at the bottom of the ocean,  
Artemis and Opal Koboi having to work together for once in their lives,  
Zombies (Of sorts),  
Artemis actually uses a gun,  
Somebody who was thought to be dead, but isn't actually dead returning to be a pain in everyone's ass (What a surprise),  
A dramatic twist at the end, for which at least 50% of you are going to hate me.**

 **So you have all of that to look forward to. And just to make sure you know,** _ **Aquaria Major**_ **will be its own separate story, not just tacked onto the end of this one. So you'll have to look out for it on November 10th. Until then, it's been a pleasure. See you all on Thursday!**


End file.
